The Next Battle
by Rylitah
Summary: The next battle, a thousand years later. Hyperactive Soren is paired up with not so hyper Riley. He's serious, she's not. She's overconfident, he's not. Could they really win? Riley thinks not. Fan mamodo accepted!
1. Introduction: Riley and Soren

**A/N: Yay, my first Zatch Bell story. :3 Here are a few things that I'd like to note-**

**- I usually call them demons, but if you call them mamodo, I won't mind. :3**

**- If 'Zatch' or any other real character names somehow pop up, then you would see their Japanese name instead. ^^'' So instead of Zatch, you would see Gash instead. Get it? :3**

**That's about it. If you would like to send in a fan mamodo, then here's the bio you would have to fill out, or, just use your own.**

**Human Name:**

**Age:**

**Appearance:**

**Personality:**

**Other:**

**Demon/Mamodo Name:**

**Age:**

**Appearance:**

**Personality:**

**Book Color:**

**Other:**

**Spells:**

**Now that's everything. :3 Here's the first chapter. ^^**

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING. Not Zatch Bell, nor Konjiki no Gash Bell. I don't own the manga or the anime. Nothing. Zip. Zero. Get it? Got it? Good. I don't own anything except this story. Oh, and I don't own the idea for this story either. I know I'm not the first. But I will do all I can to make this story different than the others. :3**

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"Hah, another book burnt. This is a lot easier than I thought it would be." A girl about nine years old popped a pink gumball in her mouth. She had blue hair and blue eyes, and wore a white long-sleeved shirt with a cloud in the middle. The girl wore a blue skirt with a white cloud on the side, and wore indigo shoes. On her right hand was a golden bracelet, and on her face were two red stripes, both on either side of her cheek.

The boy next to her sighed in reply. He was a lot older than the girl, maybe sixteen. His hair was black and spikey, sometimes showing his chocolate brown eyes. He wore a thick blue long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans with black shoes. "Don't get overconfident, Soren," The boy warned. "I'm sure there are many more enemies out there, a lot stronger. They made it in the final seventy for a reason."

"I know that." Soren replied, a smirk on her face. "Don't forget, we're in the final seventy as well. We beat six opponents already with our slightly weak spells. I'm sure the others are pushovers."

"Slightly weak? Repeat what you just said. Did that make any sense?"

"Whatever." She stopped walking and turned to face her partner. "I'm just saying that luck isn't on our side. We're just powerful, they're weak."

The boy looked at her. "Are you sure about that? You said it yourself, we have weak spells. That third opponent was not a pushover."

"Come on, Riley." Soren sighed for about the hundredth time that day. "I'm sure we'll get more powerful spells as we go on. How many spells do we have?"

"Three."

"See? And I've been with you for how many months? Two? See? We're doing fine!" The girl said, the smile still stuck on her face.

"We only have one attack spell." Riley reminded her.

"And one defensive spell and one getting away spell. We're doing fine. Now stop complaining." The smile turned into a frown and she started walking again, continuing to chew on her gum.

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Riley sat on his bed, hand under chin, thinking about the other demons. How powerful were they? Were there still some weaklings left over by luck, just hiding until the battle was almost over? Or were they slowly gaining strength, something he and Soren should have been doing right now? _Maybe we should train…_ The boy thought, about to stand up when he felt something behind him.

"Hey, Riley…When's dinner?…I'm hungry…." Soren said, bouncing on his bed.

"First of all, stop jumping. It's giving me a headache." Riley said, grabbing the nine year old and placing her feet on the floor. "And second, we're going to eat dinner when it's ready. I haven't even started making it yet! What do you want, anyway?"

"Hmm, haven't thought of it…" Soren squinted her eyes, obviously deep in thought. "Ooh, ooh! Macaroni and Cheese!"

"…Fine. Mac and Cheese it is. Don't come up to me at three in the morning saying you're hungry, though."

"When have I ever done that?"

"Last month. You wouldn't stop bothering me until I made you a sandwich. A sandwich, by the way, you didn't even eat!"

"Oh, yeah…I didn't feel hungry anymore after that." Riley mentally slapped his face with his own hand.

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**A/N: That's the first chapter. :3 Send in your fan demons/mamodo, in PM or in a review. No flames, they won't do you much good. Any help would also be appreciated, I'm not the best writer out there. ^^**


	2. Park Battle: Vincent and CJ

**A/N: Like the chapter name suggests, this chapter will introduce Vstriker's OCs, Vincent and CJ. This chapter is way longer than the first one, with a battle! Enjoy!**

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"I hate school days," Soren muttered, pacing around the apartment. "Riley can't be around, and he doesn't live with anyone…No one for me to talk to but myself. School's almost over, but…Argh!"

She slumped against the window, her blue eyes looking out, when she noticed a boy and a…hamster? No, it looked slightly different…A gerbil? Soren shook her head. It looked familiar, she saw a picture of one once and forced Riley to tell her what it was. A gu…gui… Her eyes trailed to what the boy was holding. A dark brown book. Soren's eyes then widened in surprise. A demon book! She looked around for the demon, when she noticed the animal. _No, that's not it…I have to tell Riley!_ She thought, and she ran from the window to the desk where her light blue book lay. The girl grabbed it and ran out the door, making sure to lock it after past scoldings from Riley.

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Riley checked his bag, making sure all his books were in it, when he realized that the blue book wasn't there. "Ah! I might've left it on the desk back at the apartment. I should go check to make sure everything's all right…"

"Riley!"

The boy turned to look at the door, where Soren stood, holding the book. Good thing school was over. "Soren, what are you-"

"No time to talk! Human! Book! No clue where the demon is! NOW!" She ran over to her partner and dragged him out of the classroom.

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"There!" Soren pointed, at the brown book the boy was holding. It took them half an hour to find him, but he was holding the book, and at the park. "And his animal!"

"A guinea pig…" Riley sighed.

"I knew it wasn't a hamster or a gerbil! Hah!"

The boy turned to look at them, his eyes first noticing the book in Soren's hand. His messy hair was black, he wore glasses and a brown jersey. He wore jeans, and he didn't wear shoes. "Hey, CJ. Look, it's a demon!" He said, pointing his finger. The guinea pig known as CJ's ears perked up, and jumped off the boy's head, where he was laying.

"Mmhm." Soren nodded her head. "Where's your demon?"

"My demon?" The boy asked. "CJ _is_ my demon!" He brought the brown book in front of him. "Where else could he be, playing on the swings?"

"Grr…" Soren growled. "Are you implying that I'm not smart?"

"In a way, yes." He smirked.

"Riley!" The demon shouted. "We're going to beat him into a pulp…" She slowly brought her voice to a whisper.

"But Soren," Riley started. "He didn't do anything to us."

"Yes, he did! He said I was an idiot!"

"Not directly, I just implied it." The boy smirked from across the park. Riley took the book from Soren's hand and opened it. "I guess we're going to fight. But first, let's introduce ourselves. I'm Vincent, and this is my demon, CJ."

"I'm Riley, and this is Soren." Vincent kept the smile on his face, also bringing out his book.

"Fogar!" Vincent shouted as CJ's fur turned into fire, and Soren's anger immediately vanished.

"Oh, cool!"

"Soren!" Riley shouted in disbelief. "Wingfor!" Soren put her hands in front of her and they glowed blue for a second, when she brought them both back at swiftly in front of her again, sending out a blue wisp. It went for CJ, and it hit, blowing the flaming guinea pig back a bit, and extinguishing some of the flames.

"Wind, eh?" Vincent said. "Let's see you dodge this!" CJ's fire died down, revealing his brown fur again. "Fokai!" The guinea pig's fur turned into lightning, and he then raised his back, sending the lightning bolts at the two of them.

"Shiar!" Riley cried. A shield made entirely of wind appeared, absorbing the lightning and shooting it back, only straight at the ground.

"Some reflection. You didn't even get anywhere close to me!"

"Actually, since the wind keeps moving, where it reflects back is random. It could go up in the sky, straight at you, or, like you just saw, straight at the ground."

"Hmm. Foku!" Vincent shouted as CJ's fur began to turn into stone, putting up a tough defense. "I doubt you could break through CJ's shield."

"Maybe not, but _you're _unprotected!" Soren shouted, throwing her hands back.

"Wingfor!"

Soren then shot another wind attack, this time heading straight for Vincent. She didn't expect the guinea pig to jump up and take the attack head on, barely causing a scratch. "W-what?"

"Heh. Nice try." CJ's armor began to turn back into fur. "Fogoken!" His fur pointed straight up, and sharp fur then started to speed towards them, like needles.

"Gah!" Riley cried. "Shiar!" The shield appeared again, and the needles went in all sorts of directions. Up, down, left, right, back where it came from. CJ didn't hold back, however.

"Come on! How many spells do you have?" Soren shouted.

"Nine." Vincent smiled.

"Nine?!" The girl shrieked. "We only have three!"

"How come you haven't used that last spell yet?"

"It's not a attack or a defense spell…" Riley sighed. "We only use it if we really need to and have no hope of winning."

"Like now?" The needles slowed down, and the wind shield slowly died away. "Fereuken!" The animal's fur then began to turn into a metal armor, with blades on top and sides, with two guns on each blade.

"…You've _got _to be kidding me." Riley moaned.

"Because it's dangerous?" Soren asked.

"No, because I've never think I'd ever see a guinea pig with guns before." The blue book began to glow brighter, and Soren glared at him.

"Who cares?! We can't let them win this battle! Think of what would happen if that thing became king!"

"Hey! Don't talk about CJ like he isn't here!" Vincent shouted from across the park.

"Be quiet! I wasn't talking to you!" Soren picked up a nearby rock and threw it at him. "What I'm saying is," she turned back to Riley. "If that book burns, then I'm gone! And you'd be living alone again! Think of all the spark I've added to your life!"

"What spar-" He noticed the glare from the nine year old. "Okay, okay. Maybe we should just use the third spell…"

"Fine! Just don't let that book get burnt!" When she didn't hear a reply, she turned to look at her partner again. "Riley!"

"Hey, I think we've got a new spell!" Riley said, smiling.

"What are you waiting for?! Try it out!"

"Hey, CJ," Vincent said. "You hear that? They've got a new spell. Let's see what it does!" CJ nodded his small head and turned back to normal, not even using the previous spell.

"Ra Koron Serudo!" Riley looked over at Soren, who's hands were back behind her again. Above them was a large phoenix looking thing, made entirely of wind and glowing blue. "…This is _not _like our other spells…" Soren then hurled the phoenix at Vincent and CJ.

"Foshield!" Vincent cried before the phoenix hit. Smoke was everywhere, and Riley fell to his knees. No, that definitely was not like their other spells. It took a lot out of him, and it was huge.

When the smoke cleared, there was a giant fur thing where Vincent and CJ once were. The fur then began to grow smaller as it turned back into CJ, whose paws stretched out in front of him.

"Some spell," Vincent said, serious. "But you'll have to do more than that if you want to break Foshield. But we'll battle again another day."

"Truce?" Soren said, already next to CJ, holding her small hand out to the guinea pig, who placed his paw in her hand as reply.

"That was awesome!" Vincent said. "Come on, CJ. I'm tired. Let's go home." CJ got up and ran up Vincent's shoulder. "As for you two, I'm sure we'll see each other sometime soon."

"Yeah, of course! I'm the only one who will burn your book!" Soren said, piping up.

"Yup. Oh, I forgot. I have extra tickets to a magic show. Wanna come?" Vincent asked, holding out two tickets he had in his pocket.

"Sure, we'd love to." Riley said as Soren grabbed the tickets from Vincent's hand. "When is it?"

"Tomorrow, three in the afternoon, at the mall. Or in front of it, more likely. Second row seats."

"How'd you get them?"

"I have my ways." Vincent smiled and walked off, his demon on his shoulder.

"Come on, Riley! Let's go home! I can't wait for the show tomorrow!" Soren said, tugging his arm. Riley paid no attention to her and looked at the ticket Soren had given to him seconds before.

"'_Demi's Magical Surprise..._'" He read.


	3. The Magic Show: Demi and Vivi

**A/N: Thanks to Beloved Princess for allowing me to use Demi and Vivi. (: Also, some errors were fixed in the last chapter, being grammar errors and getting the wrong name on Demi's magic show. If you find a mistake, feel free to tell me so I may fix it. (:**

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"Over here!" Soren waved to Riley. "Our seats are right here!"

Riley walked over to where Soren was shouting. Vincent was already there, but there was someone next to him that he pondered about.

"Oh," Vincent said, noticing Riley's confused face. "This is CJ in his human form. He can turn into a guinea pig and a human at will. I was really surprised when I first found out."

"That's so cool!" Soren exclaimed. "You're full of surprises, aren't you, guinea boy?" CJ flinched at the nickname.

"Don't call me that." The now three foot tall boy who used to be a guinea pig said. He wore a white shirt and brown shorts. Riley couldn't help but wonder how many other demons could transform.

"Is it a spell?" The sixteen year old asked.

"Nope. Didn't you hear me?" Vincent said. "At will."

"When does the show start?" Soren asked, kicking her legs after sitting down. They were outside of the mall, but in a large tent.

"In about a minute." Riley said, looking at his watch. "They won't start right away, Soren."

"So, when did you take responsibility of that book?" Vincent asked, pointing at Soren's blue book.

"About two months ago. You?"

"About five. Maybe that's why we have more spells than you." The lights slowly started to dim.

"Ooh, they're starting!" Soren exclaimed excitedly.

The lights were completely out, and then lights from the bottom of the stage pierced the darkness, showing the red curtains hanging over it. The curtains slowly started to separate, showing a table with a magician's hat on it. It was tied in a red ribbon. There were other props that decorated the stage, but the table was in the middle.

"Welcome, everyone…" A girl's voice began, and another girl's voice finished.

"To Demi's Magical Surprise!" The lights at the bottom of the stage changed into different colors before remaining yellow. Two girls jumped out from either side of the stage, one was obviously older.

The older girl had blond locks in her hair that reached her mid-back. Her chestnut colored eyes stared out into the rather large crowd. Her black hoodie was unzipped, and had it had a white tee under it that read, 'Feel the Magic Baby!' in cursive silver letters, that was wrapped on her ghostly pale skin. She wore a short skirt that had glittery stars on them, and had white leggings that went from her toes to her mid thighs, and wore black boots that reached her ankles.

The younger girl had pink straight hair that was held in a small ponytail with a headband on top that had small white bunny ears attached to it. She wore a white short sleeved shirt, a pink scarf that hung around her neck, orange shorts, white stockings, and pink ballet flats. There was something…odd, about her. Maybe it was the fact that one of her eyes was green and the other blue?

"My name is Demi," said the older one. She then pointed to the little girl across the stage. "And this is my assistant, Vivi!" The crowd roared in response, which Riley found weird since they didn't even do a single trick yet.

"It finally started!" Soren squealed, while CJ stared at her as if she had grown wings, sprouted a second head, and her skin turned purple. Which, of course, didn't happen.

"Stop staring at Soren and enjoy the show, CJ." Vincent said as he noticed his demon was staring at the other.

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"And, for our final trick," Demi said. "We're going to make a rabbit come out of this hat with a magic word!" By then, Vivi had already walked off the stage, no one noticing.

Demi walked over to the table in the middle with the magician's hat on it and held it up, showing the audience the hat from all angles. Inside the table was a slot with a black and white book with a pink trim. No one noticed the book. She smiled as she placed her hand over it, holding a baton high over the hat, which was set back down, twirling it in a circular motion.

"Delona!" The girl cried, as a small white bunny appeared out of the hat. The audience roared. Riley wasn't sure if he really was hearing it, or if he had already gone deaf and the noise was repeating in his ears.

"Whoa! That is so cool!" Soren screeched.

"You think everything is cool." CJ sighed.

"Not! Riley isn't!" And her partner didn't hear the insult.

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After the show, Soren's throat was sore with her constant screaming while Riley and CJ were both temporarily deaf from all the noise that occurred in the tent. Vincent was about the only who stayed the same, partly because he fell asleep after the first five minutes.

"You can't always use a spell in your magic shows, Demi!" A familiar voice cried. "What if a demon was at the show?"

"Sorry, Vivi." Demi apologized. "I couldn't help but dazzle the crowd with another amazing trick. You did good today. I promise I won't use spells that often in our performances."

"Good." There were muffling sounds after that, then silence. Vincent was the only one who heard them. Vivi was a demon. Was that the reason behind the different eye colors? No, it might've been a birth defect if she were a human. A creepy one. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. That would mean they would have to fight Vivi. He didn't really think he could make friends in this battle, but here were Soren and Riley. Demi and Vivi didn't seem bad. Maybe they could-

"Vincent!" CJ's voice snapped the teen out of his thoughts. "Did you hear me? We're going to get pizza. What kind do you want?" They were at an apartment; apparently Riley and Soren's room. Vincent didn't realize he entered a building.

"Oh, pizza." Vincent smiled for a bit, then faded. "Pizza! I'm hungry! I missed breakfast today thanks to that guinea pig! Um, I guess I'll have extra cheese. But all to myself. Who's paying, anyway?"

"I am." Riley said, pointing to himself. "Were you listening at all?"

"Yes, I was! Why wouldn't I?"

"You're lying." Soren frowned, crossing her arms.

"Ugh. Just order the pizza!"

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**A/N: There you have it. Next chapter will be up sometime tomorrow if my internet isn't out, like it has been doing lately. Next chapter will introduce BetaWriter's OCs. Send in more fan mamodo, or I won't have anyone else to add! The first arc will be up soon! It will begin on chapter five or six, depending on how far chapter four goes. The arc will take around twenty chapters. xD If you're wondering about Demi and Vivi, don't worry, they will make a reappearance later on. (:**


	4. Misunderstandings: Jhouru and Chikushou

**A/N: Thanks to BetaWriter for allowing me to use his OCs. Also, I didn't update yesterday because the internet was out.**

**And, the first arc will start ****this chapter****. Yes, this chapter. Nothing really happens about the arc, it's just going to be mentioned. : D**

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"I win. Again." CJ sighed as he drew a line on a sheet of paper for the seventh time, in his human form. There were five other papers surrounding him. He and Soren were in the apartment while Riley and Vincent were at school. They went to different schools, and Vincent's school let the kids out about ten minutes earlier than Riley's.

"Come on! Can't you let me win for once?" Soren asked.

"That won't make the game more exciting." The two demons were playing Tic-Tac-Toe. CJ had won every single game they played. This was the thirty seventh game. One would stop and think to wonder how the demon could have the patience to play all these rounds for so long.

"What time is it?" CJ looked at the clock.

"Two ten. That means Vincent will be back in ten minutes, and Riley in twenty."

"Oh, okay." There was a bit of silence between the two. Soren broke it. "Wanna play another round?"

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Riley impatiently looked at the clock. Two fifteen. Fifteen minutes until he could run back to his apartment.

"Oh, and class." The teacher announced. "We have a new student joining us. He isn't supposed to come until tomorrow, but look! He came here early to introduce himself. Everyone, say hello to Chikushou." He stepped out of the way, and behind him, there was a boy, the same age as Riley and Vincent. He had brown hair, white skin, and red eyes. He wore a white vest with a blue shirt under it, and wore brown pants.

"Hi, I'm Chikushou." The boy said.

No one said anything back, not even a simple 'hi'.

"Class. Say hello." The teacher repeated himself.

"Hi, Chikushou." The class said, sounding bored. The teacher, not quite satisfied, turned to the new student anyway.

"Chikushou, I'm sure they're excited. They're just out of it since school is almost over today. I'll assign you your seat. Here, there's an empty desk next to Krystal." He pointed to the said girl, and Chikushou calmly walked over to the desk, not noticing that all eyes were on him.

"Hey, new guy," Someone sitting next to Chikushou said. "Listen, you're probably new to town, so I'll explain the basic rules." Chikushou half listened. "First of all, no hanging around near the geeks. They'll rub off on you. Especially _him._" He pointed over to a blond haired boy sitting behind Riley. "Ray is his name. He's always reading books, not doing anything cool. Number two, no talking to the cute girls. Between you and me, I need a chance with them." Chikushou nodded, acting as if every word that came out of the guy's mouth was being taken to heart. "And don't hang around Riley over there," he pointed. "People say he has weird powers. There's no proof, but still. Better safe than sorry, right?"

"Powers, eh?" Chikushou asked, finally perking up. "Tell me a little more about him."

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"And there was this new kid named Chikushou." Riley explained to the three in front of him.

"He's a book owner! Usually, new kids are book owners!" Vincent exclaimed, pointing upwards. "See, my class had a new kid not too long ago. He was a book owner! But CJ and I burned the book. No need to worry."

"Worry?" Soren scoffed. "I don't need to worry! I'm becoming ruler, and that's that! No one can stand in my way!"

"Really? How come I have more spells and is stronger than you?" CJ smirked while Soren frowned.

"Stop it." Riley ordered, and they did, Soren sitting down reluctantly. "Still. He either doesn't know we're book owners, or he isn't even a book owner at all."

"On a different note…" Vincent trailed off. "Let's go back to the park. I like the feeling of grass behind me as I lie down on it."

"Yes, let's!" Soren grabbed Riley and CJ's hands and ran out, Vincent running behind them.

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Riley sat on the bench, Vincent was laying down on the ground, Soren was on the swings, and CJ was in his guinea pig form, sliding down the slides.

_Vincent's right. _Riley thought _There's no need to worry. Even if that Chikushou person _is _a book owner, we could take him on. If not, CJ and Vincent would be there to help. Everything's going smoothly. There hasn't been an attack in a couple of days. I should really relax more often._ He looked at the clouds above him. There weren't many to look at. He smiled and was about to join Soren on the swings, when-

"Shardar!"

Three plate sized shards came from what seemed to be a tree, headed straight for Vincent. CJ acted fast and changed into his human form and jumped in front of the attack, which dug into his arm, leg, and stomach, pushing him back, ramming into Vincent. There was a tree behind them, and it prevented them from flying any further, but knocked them both out.

"H-hey…" Soren stammered. "Did that tree just use a spell?"

"No, you idiot!" Riley shouted. "It probably came from behind the tree! It might be a…demon…"

"Really? Ugh! We'll beat them! No one messes with our friends like that!" Two figures stepped from behind the tree. One of them was wearing a blue hoodie and black pants, while the other one was…Chikushou.

"Vincent was right! Chikushou _is _a book owner!" Riley exclaimed, eyes wide. Then, something struck him. "Wow…Vincent really _was _right about him…Weird."

"Who cares if he's your classmate? He's _our _enemy!" Soren yelled.

"Right. Wingfor!" The familiar wind attack headed straight towards Chikushou and his partner.

"So, that guy was right." Chikushou said quietly. "Riley does have powers, but the power doesn't come out of him." His eyes trailed to Soren. "It comes out of her. He only holds the book. Jhouru, hands in front of you! Miiruk!" A mirror was formed in front of them, and when the wind hit it, the mirror merely absorbed it, and sent it back.

"Huh?" As the wind headed straight back at Riley and Soren, Riley grabbed Soren's arm and jumped out of the way. "Darn it."

"This is my demon, Jhouru." Chikushou said. "I actually heard about you from one of your classmates. He described you as having 'weird powers'." His grayish white book turned brighter. "So I thought, 'demon'!" _Maybe they can help, _he thought.

"What? One of the classmates knew?" Riley pondered, wondering who it could've been. He didn't think anyone saw him using spells.

"Riley, if he can deflect our attack, and we only have two attack spells, then use the other one! I'm sure he can't deflect _that_!"

"Vincent and CJ can."

"Well, they don't reflect it, they just block it. Come on, try!"

"No way. Not yet, the battle just started." Riley looked over at the unconscious forms of CJ and Vincent. "But first, we have to get them somewhere safe. Forron!" Thick mist came from Soren's hands, making it nearly impossible to see. Riley, who memorized where his friends were, ran over to the tree, and picked up CJ, who had reverted back to his guinea pig form when he was hit. Soren picked up Vincent, wincing a little.

"How about _you _carry Vincent?" Soren asked her partner. "Sound fair?" Riley nodded even though she couldn't see it and was about to hand her the guinea pig, when Chikushou cried out another spell.

"Magi-Miiruk!"

"Why'd you do that?" Jhouru asked his partner, not expecting the random spell.

"If they try to attack us again, we need to be prepared."

"Wingfor!"

"Kind of like that."

The wind pierced through the heavy fog, and collided with an invisible mirror in front of Jhouru and Chikushou. It then sent the attack back at them, but seconds after, the mirror shattered into tiny fragments. A loud crash was heard where the spell came from, and the fog slowly started to lift.

"Did we get them back?" Asked an impatient Jhouru. A figure appeared in the distance, but three of them were gone.

"We got one of them." Chikushou squinted his eyes, trying to see who it was. When the fog cleared, Soren was sitting down, tugging at her leg.

"You missed!" She called. "This stupid twig that got my leg stuck did better than you two!"

"Wingfor!" Soren's hands shot up again, and sliced the twig in half. She got up and started to run away, when Chikushou called out to her.

"Wait! I didn't come here to fight! I just wanted to talk to you two! I didn't want anyone else to interfere, so I tried to take out that other kid!"

"Liar!" Soren called. "Vincent's a bookkeeper as well! If your going to talk about the demons, then why not talk about it with him?!"

"He is?" Chikushou asked. "Oh. Sorry about that! But we need your help!"

"Help with what?" Soren stated to get impatient. Riley walked up to her; Vincent and CJ nowhere to be seen. Chikushou sighed.

"There's something wrong with the sky."

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**A/N: The fourth chapter, done! If it seems rushed, I'm sorry. But the first arc is now starting!**

**Oh, and I will need some evil demons. It doesn't matter if you've already sent a demon in or not, you can still send more.**

**And if I haven't added your demon yet, don't worry. If I've seen the message, then they will be in. (:**


	5. A Small Chess Game: Lucas and Rakete

**A/N: Here, they start plotting out what they're going to do about the sky, and you learn more about it. Thanks to Iostorm for allowing me to use his OCs. (:**

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"Something is…wrong with the sky?" Soren looked up, squinting her eyes. Nothing. She looked back to Chikushou. "There's nothing up there. I don't see anything strange."

"That's not what I mean," Chikushou said, eyes closed. "Have you seen the news recently? Many planes having been crashing, all in the same area." He opened his eyes. "Jhouru and I suggest that a demon is behind all this."

"Why would a demon want to send planes crashing?" Riley asked. Jhouru shook his head.

"Actually, Chikushou and I have been investigating ourselves," he said. "We didn't see anything either. So, we sent a toy plane up there to test it. You wouldn't believe how long we had to fly that thing. It took hours to get it all the way up there, even when we threw it from the highest point available!"

"Anyway," Chikushou continued. "When the toy plane hit whatever was up there, the controls wouldn't work and it was sent spiraling down. When Jhouru and I got up to it, one wing was torn off, and it was bent in half. We couldn't believe it. One touch and the toy was destroyed. The plane didn't work after that. Maybe whatever is up there surrounded itself with a barrier so no one would come to investigate."

"No way I'm going up there if that's what's going to happen to us." Riley scoffed, folding his arms with the light blue book tucked in-between.

"I doubt that'll happen. I'm pretty sure the barrier is weak on the top. After all, not many things could go that high."

"True. But there would still be a barrier on top, meaning we'd have to use a spell to break it." Jhouru added for his partner. "So, if we use a strong enough spell, we should be able to jump through the hole, even before it closes back up, if it's able to do that."

"Wait," Soren interrupted. "We never said we'd help you."

"You don't understand." Chikushou shook his head. "Planes are still running. People are in them. You can't abandon them all! Not just planes, helicopters as well; whatever flies up there! Birds! That demon up there is planning something _big_. No human could create something like that. We have to take that demon down! He or she is trying to hide from us. We can stop it."

"I get it. And I agree with you," Riley said. "But let Soren think it over first. If she, Vincent, and CJ agree, we'll go with you."

"I agree." Soren said without hesitation. "I also get that the demon up there isn't working alone. They have to have some sort of _comrade,_ to help them out. That means I get to burn all their books and become even closer to become ruler." She smiled.

"…That's another reason." Chikushou sighed.

"Meet us tomorrow back here at two. Tomorrow's Saturday, so Vincent and I will be off school. We'll talk to him and CJ tonight. C'mon, Soren." Riley started walking over to a far off tree, where he hid Vincent and CJ. Soren took a last look at Jhouru and Chikushou and ran after him.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Uh, no thanks." Vincent said. "I'm not going through all that work."

"Vincent!" Soren shouted. "We can't do it alone! We need you! And others! CJ will be closer to becoming king even though I will become ruler! Do you know any other demons that could help?"

"Nope." He shook his head, remembering Demi and Vivi. "Not one. Besides, I have a chess match tomorrow." CJ stared at him.

"…That's more important than me becoming ruler?" He asked in disbelief. Vincent smiled.

"Yep."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Vincent sat at the table at the park. Riley, Soren, CJ, Chikushou, and Jhouru were talking about the sky. Figures. They dragged him here against his own will. He sighed as he placed another piece on the chess board in front of him.

"Mind if I play with you?" Asked a boy from behind him. Vincent wheeled around in surprise to find a boy his age, blond hair and freckles on his face, standing in front of him.

"Uh, sure. I don't mind."

"Thanks." The boy smiled as he sat down on a chair on the other side of the table. "I'm Lucas. You?"

"Vincent."

"All right, Vincent. Ready to lose?" Lucas had a large smirk on his face, confidence in his eyes. Vincent glared at him.

"No way."

---

"So, how will we get up there?" Soren asked, looking at the sky.

"We'll find a way. Whether it be buying plane tickets and jumping out the emergency exits, using a spell, or whatever." Jhouru said, sitting on the swings. Riley noticed a boy sitting with Vincent playing chess with him. At least Vincent wasn't going to complain about not being able to play. His eyes widened in surprise when he noticed what the boy was holding in his hand, the hand that wasn't on the table.

A demon book. Light green. Riley knew the familiar size and markings all too well. He clutched his own book, making sure to keep it from the blonde's sight.

"Riley!" Soren's voice snapped him from his own thoughts.

"Huh? What?"

"Is Vincent going to join us?" Riley looked back at Vincent.

"Not sure, but I will." A familiar voice called out as two girls stepped from behind a nearby tree. Soren immediately recognized them.

"The two magicians! Demi and Vivi! Wait, how are you going to join us? You have a demon?"

"Duh." Demi smiled as she held up the black and white book, the pink trim on the side noticeable.

"Cool book." CJ stared in awe.

"Thanks, it's mine." Vivi said. "We overheard you. We're going as well."

"…That's great!" Chikushou shouted, raising his hands in the air.

---

"I win." Lucas smiled. "Check and mate, Vincent."

"Aw." Vincent got up and cleared the table. "I should get going now, my friends are waiting."

"Oh yeah, they're talking about the things that happened in the sky, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Just wondering."

"Okay, then." Vincent ran off, leaving Lucas to sit alone at the table.

"He seems nice." Said a voice coming from a tree near Lucas.

"You say that about everyone, Rakete. But yeah, I think you're right. If we don't help them, they're going to be in trouble." The blond got up and dusted himself off. "We'll leave with them. It's not a good time to jump in now, all of a sudden. Find out when they're leaving, Rakete." Lucas walked off, leaving the heavily armored demon to eavesdrop.

---

"When do we head off?" Soren asked.

"In a week. That should give us enough time to plot out what we're going to do." Chikushou answered. "Everyone with me?"

"Yeah!" CJ, Soren, Riley, Jhouru, Demi, and Vivi answered, Vincent staring at them, confused.

"So…we're going?" He asked, disbelief in his voice.


	6. New Friends: Claire and Natsumi

**A/N: Almost couldn't update today. D: My internet goes out everyday.**

**Anyways, thanks to Bunnys-n-PenguinsWillRuleEarth for allowing me to use their OCs, and making me boost up the rating. xD Also, to the same author, Vincent's just lazy like that. Ask Vstriker, his creator. xD**

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

"In one week…" Soren muttered, pacing about the apartment room. "One week, we go up there." She looked up to her partner, who was laying down on his bed, reading a book. "Riley, we can't afford plane tickets! Why do you think we live in an _apartment_?!"

"Correction," Riley sighed. "_I _live in an apartment. Not you. You're just staying here for the duration of the battle. And also, we'll find a way. I'm sure Chikushou was joking about jumping out the emergency exits." Soren's voice nearly made him deaf.

"_What if he wasn't?!_"

"I'm sure he was." The sixteen year old sat up. "We would get in huge trouble if we opened the emergency exits when they weren't needed." Soren was about to comment when the two heard a knock on the door.

"Hey, uh, Soren?" a familiar voice called. "I'd like to talk to you about something."

"Come in, Demi." Riley said, knowing already who it was. Turns out he was good with voices.

"Hey!" The door opened. Riley stared in awe at who it was. "I can't believe you mistook me for a woman."

"Vincent!" Soren shouted as she ran up to him. Maybe he wasn't that good with voices.

"Demi isn't a woman, she's sixteen, like us." Riley stood up, staring at the teen. "And sorry about that. You sound so…_girlish_, through the door."

"Girlish?!" Vincent nearly screamed. "I'll show you girlish! Would you like me to call Demi and Vivi over here and have them knock you senseless?!"

"I'll pass." Riley held up a hand. "What do you want to talk about with Soren, anyway?"

"About the structure in the sky. You know what, I'll talk to you about it as well, never mind the insult hurled at my face earlier today." Vincent glared at Riley, who shuddered. "CJ's with Vivi anyway. "

"I don't think I want to see her again anytime soon." Riley sighed.

"All right, here's what I was thinking. Soren, you have wind spells, right?" Soren nodded. "What if one of your spells could take us there? Like that Shiar spell."

"Uh, no." Riley answered for his demon partner. "We'd get separated. It doesn't reflect directly, remember? Some of us would go up, while some of us would get our faces smashed in the ground. I don't want to take that chance." Soren nodded in agreement.

"Fine, then. Our only other choice is to find a demon who _can _complete that task for us."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Riley stomped through the town, anger visible on his face. "Figures that I'm the one sent to find a demon. What a one way ticket to getting my book burned." He looked around. No other demon books. The teen looked behind him for the umpteenth time. Why was there a feeling someone was watching him? It was a good thing to leave his book with Soren and Vincent, if someone really was following him. He turned around again to find a girl on her toes, staring him in the face. Riley blushed in embarrassment.

"Um, can I…help you?" The girl nodded, but slowly. The girl had orange hair and red eyes. She was wearing a white tee with an unzipped orange vest and a white hood. Her hands had orange wristbands on them, with white rims. She wore black shorts and white boots, with orange socks coming from inside of it.

"You…" She squinted her eyes. "Look like a bookkeeper." Riley gasped silently, wondering how he could look like one. Didn't he blend in with the other people? He gulped before speaking, and decided to play dumb.

"I have…no clue what you're talking about." The girl now wore a mad face.

"You're lying." She placed her heels on the ground and slowly walked around him. "Where's your demon?"

"What demon?" He decided to add in a little laugh.

"You know what I'm talking about!" She grabbed his arm and led him to a dark alley. "This is my demon, Claire." As if on cue, a girl popped out from behind a dumpster. She had tan skin with a long sleeved black top with blue sleeves. At the end of each sleeve was a black end, as long as a wristband with white rims. She wore a black skirt with black boots and white stockings. She had blue hair and blue eyes, like Soren.

"She looks human to me." Riley said truthfully, breaking from the younger girl's grasp and crossing his arms.

"You have a demon! I know you do!" Claire suddenly shouted as she pointed a gun at him. Riley's eyes widened in shock. Was she old enough to wield this thing? She was younger than the human! "Where is it? Where?!" She poked Riley's arm with it.

"…" Riley remained silent, staring at the weapon. This girl was crazy. "Again, I have…you know what? Never mind. Fine. Let's say I do have a demon. What are you-"

"I knew it!" The older girl interrupted him suddenly, laughing like a maniac. "Honestly, I really didn't know. Claire's method always works!" Claire now smiled, silently putting the gun away. Riley now noticed his heart was beating faster than he ever could remember.

"Aha…Yeah…" Claire still had the smile on her face. The older girl looked at Riley again.

"I'm Natsumi. Who're you?"

"I'm…Riley." His heart finally started to slow down.

"Riley, huh? So tell me, where _is _your demon?" Natsumi asked, sitting down on the cement. Riley stared at her oddly before answering.

"Back at my apartment…They sent me here to look for other demons in taking down that invisible structure that has been making planes crash lately." Natsumi and Claire's faces were suddenly serious.

"I've heard about that…" Claire said silently, her psycho side vanishing. "All those people…I'll help." Natsumi looked up again.

"I will as well."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Flare, there're some demons planning on getting here. One of them might have a spell that could lead them here." A demon girl with blond hair said, looking at the back of the demon before her.

"Don't do anything," Flare said, her mouth in a smile. "Let them come. They'll be the first to witness this magnificent creation." The girl nodded her head and walked off, her human partner following behind. Flare looked to her left; where there was another demon standing.

"Mitao," she said. "Could you get some other demons? Set up a…_welcome committee,_ for our guests." 'Mitao' nodded her head, an evil smile on her face. She kept the smirk up as she headed to leave. "Oh, and…" The girl stopped. "Don't tell Kara about this, mmkay?"

"All right, Flare." Mitao, still smirking, finally left, leaving Flare alone.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Riley slammed open the door, scaring Vincent and Soren, who didn't expect the sudden noise.

"So, how'd it go?" Vincent asked after a while.

"Next time, you're going." Riley said in a low voice. "Thanks to you two, I got threatened with a gun." Soren and Vincent's eyes widened in surprise.

"R-really?" Was all the nine year old could say. Riley nodded.

"But yeah, I did get another demon to join."


	7. Distractions: Hori and Meida

**A/N: Thanks to VeryLazyPeople for allowing me to use their OCs. (:**

**_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
**

A week went by pretty fast. They all spent the time preparing. Ten minutes before heading off, Riley, Soren, Natsumi, Claire, Chikushou, and Jhouru were once again at the park, talking about ways to get up to the invisible structure.

"So, we're going to jump out of the plane's emergency exits. Everyone with me?" Chikushou asked, looking around at the group, smiling.

"No way," Soren said, crossing her arms.

"We'd be in huge trouble." Riley finished for the demon.

"Not if we don't get caught..." Claire muttered under her breath, but no one heard her.

"Well, that's our only way of getting up there!"

"We aren't going to find a plane that will take us that high!" Natsumi said, stomping her foot. "Besides, we aren't going to find plane tickets for a plane that will leave _today_!"

"...Do you have any other ideas?"

"We don't, but we can help you take down the demon that is up there," a voice said from behind them. When the six turned around, they saw an armored demon, standing with a blond haired boy, which Riley immediately recognized as the person who beat Vincent at chess. "They'll be strong. But with us, we'll make it through."

"Who're you?" Soren asked, glaring at the boy.

"I'm Lucas, and this is my demon, Rakete. We kind of overheard you guys talking about the structure when I beat Vincent at chess." Lucas turned to Natsumi and Claire. "But I don't recall ever seeing you two."

"I'm Natsumi, and this is my demon, Claire." Natsumi said. "We joined after you beat Vincent."

"Guys!" Vivi cried, running up to them. "There's another demon attacking us! Demi and the others sent me here to get you. Hurry!" While the others chased after Vivi, who had run off again, Soren turned back to Lucas and Rakete.

"Help us," she said. "And we'll let you come along." Lucas smirked, and chased after the nine year old, followed by Rakete.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Our guests are going to be a little late," Mitao said, facing the demons she'd gathered. "Seems as if Flare has sent Hori and his partner down already to stall them." She turned around, staring at the ceiling. "But Hori won't be able to fend them all off. He just may burn some of their books, but there are too many of them. Some of them will make it here. So be prepared." She then looked towards a blond haired demon with purple eyes and walked over to her. "And don't defy Flare nor I ever again, Luna."

"Yes...Mitao..." Luna sighed, slowly bringing her head down, covering her eyes. She brought her left hand to her right arm, where a pink mark was visible. The demon didn't expect what had happened to happen, but it happened anyway, and she didn't want to remember.

---

_"Mitao," Luna had said merely a few days ago. "Why do you serve Flare? If she succeeds with this ridiculous plan, then she'll become ruler of Makai! Why would you serve her?"_

_"Who said I cared about becoming ruler?" Mitao said, her back facing Luna. "If Flare becomes ruler, then she'll give me the highest rank possible, and I could torture all who go against her." A smirk was brought to her lips._

_"W-what?" Luna stepped back. "Why? Why do you only care about ways to hurt others? Do you not feel anything at all? All the pain they feel, all the pain relatives and friends feel?"_

_"That's no concern of mine." Mitao slowly started to turn around. "Besides, I only care to hurt others because it's just the way I am. Would you like me to give you a sample of what I'll do when Flare becomes ruler?"_

_"No! Kara wouldn't let you do this!"_

_"Who cares? That human doesn't see things the way I see it. She's too soft, like a lot of other humans." Mitao closed her eyes, fully facing Luna. She then opened them and started to walk closer to her. "Besides, I think you'll need a demonstration. To get used to it." She smirked as she reached for something. Luna's eyes widened._

_---_

"That won't happen again..." Luna said to no one in particular, but Mitao seemed to have heard, and understood.

"No, it won't." The demon merely said, and walked back to her original position, in the center of the room, the various demons and humans surrounding her back, Luna included.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Who's that?" Jhouru asked as he spotted the demon Vivi was talking about. He had short messy silver hair and gray eyes, with two lines going down his cheeks. He wore a black shirt and black short pants with black boots.

The human girl had long black hair and brown eyes. She wore a baggy t-shirt and baggy blue jeans.

"Oh, so you've got friends." the human girl said, the indigo book in her hand glowing brighter. "Hori, hands in front of you. We get to burn six books at once! Rioru Nekoru!" Purple stick like purple flames shot of of both of Hori's palms.

"Shiar!" Riley cried out as the familiar wind spell appeared in front of Soren. The other ten ran behind him for cover as the flames shot everywhere.

"No one is getting hurt today!" Soren cried out. "No one!" When the needles slowly started to fade, so did the shield, and pretty soon, both spells were completely gone. But yet, as Soren continued to glare at the two before her, the light blue book continued to glow brighter and brighter.

"Riley!" Demi shouted. "Lower the light so I can stop covering my eyes!" Riley ignored her as he flipped through the pages. Why was the book glowing? There wasn't a spell in progress...but...

"There!" He shouted, smirking. "A new spell! And just in time!"

"What are you waiting for?!" Vincent screeched, his arm covering his face. "Use it!"

"Fliinari!" Riley yelled, and Soren raised her hands in the air as two blue glowing wings appeared at her side, covering everyone except Hori and his partner, Soren in the middle of the wings. When Soren moved her left arm, the left wing moved, and the same happened with her right arm and wing.

"Sweet," Jhouru smirked. "Now we can get to the structure!"

"Meida!" Hori shouted, turning towards his partner. "Cast a spell! Now!"

"Right! Ganzu Nekoru!" Purple fireballs shot out of Hori's palms and headed for the giant wings, where Claire and the others were inside.

"Not a chance!" Soren shouted as she moved her left arm, sending the glowing wing in front of her right wing, the fireballs missing, but barely. "All right, guys! I'll try to fly up there!"

"I knew you had a spell somewhere that could make you fly!" Vincent shouted, both Soren and Riley ignoring him as Soren soared over Hori and Meida.

"...They got away." Was all Meida could say after they were a dark blue dot in the distance.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Kaichiro!" Natsumi shouted as a white solar beam from Claire hit the shield, but it didn't break.

"Use a stronger one!" Lucas yelled.

"Grr..." Claire growled, clearly annoyed. "Don't shout as us! We're doing the best we can! Blame the shield, if anything!"

"Okay, fine..."

"Kairuga!" Claire used her frustration at the shield and at Lucas to charge up a beam, releasing it all at the top part of the shield, shattering the top.

"All right!" Riley smiled. "All right, Soren, bring us in before the shield closes up!"

"Right!" Soren then dived downwards, past the shield, which had already started to close up again. The spell wore off as soon as she hit ground, which made the others fall. "Uh, sorry about that. But what are we standing on?"

Everyone soon began to realize that the girl had a point; there was no ground. To them, it seemed as if they were standing on air. But when Vincent took a step foward, color began to spread from underneath his foot, to showing the massive tower below them. "We're on the roof!" Demi cried.

"Then we need a spell that will break it." Riley said, pointing below them. "Claire and Natsumi have already done enough. Anyone else care to volunteer?"

"I know!" Vincent said suddenly, raising a hand. "How about _you_?" Riley looked at Soren, who looked back at Riley.

"Um..." Soren started. "We only have two attack spells, and only one of them is strong enough to break this roof. And that takes a lot out of Riley." Riley nodded. Chikushou looked confused.

"But you said to use that strong spell when you thought we were challenging you to a battle."

"Uh, yeah...Riley told me about the exhausting part after that." Soren laughed nervously.

"We'll break it." Lucas smiled, steeping up with Rakete. "Boguru!" Rakete then made a punching movement below him, and all of a sudden, there was a loud explosion, sending dust everywhere. When it cleared, part of the ceiling was smashed.

"All right then..." Jhouru sighed. "Let's go." And all twelve jumped in, not knowing that someone was waiting underneath.


	8. The Welcoming Committee: Kara and Mitao

**Thanks to Azusa-Phonos for allowing me to use her OC's. :D**

**And, another battle! Whoo! It was actually fun writing out Comet. Who's Comet? Read and find out. (:**

**______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
**

"Huh?" Soren asked, staring wide-eyed at the demons and humans standing in front of her. "Who're you guys?"

"Oh, just some other demons wanting to become ruler of Makai." said a blond haired demon who was standing in the middle of the room. Her hair went down to her shoulders, had green eyes and wore glasses. She wore a white shirt with a green diamond on it, a sweater with black and blue stripes, baggy blue shorts that were a little below her knees, white gloves, and wore black and blue converse. "But don't mind us. Either join us or give us your book. It's really that simple." On her face was a toothy smile that could make even the toughest man shudder.

"We have no time for you!" Demi yelled. "We need to get the shield over this place down, before more planes crash!"

"Honestly," said the blond haired demon. "Why would we care about that? This isn't our world. We don't care. We just need our needs done, nothing more. Besides, they would all die someday. The survivors have a story to tell to their grandchildren or whatever."

"It's not just planes!" Jhouru shouted. "Birds, helicopters, anything that can fly up here!"

"Did you listen to a word I just said?" the demon asked, as if bored. "I. Don't. Care. No one cares if a bird dies. They would be all, 'Oh, poor little bird. It should have looked both ways before flying across the road, or some nonsense like that. I'm getting quite bored. You didn't really think you would get through here without fighting, did you? Oh, but we don't even know each others' names."

"I don't need to know your name to know I have to beat you!" Soren screeched.

"Aww. But I knew you'd come in through the roof. There isn't any other entrance. And I set up this whole welcoming committee, just for you! Don't you feel special?"

"...You knew we were coming?" Natsumi asked.

"But of course." the demon smirked. "Flare knows a lot of things. And, so do I! Foros, show them what you can do."

A demon stepped up, followed by his human partner. He has messy green hair and emerald eyes. He wore a tattered forest green shirt and brown pants, with no shoes. His skin was pale, and he had a line under each eye trailing from his eyes to down his face.

The human had tannish skin and brown eyes. He had black hair and wore a white shirt with a blue unzipped sweater over it. He looked around thirteen, and wore blue jeans and black shoes. He had no emotion in his face at all.

"Forozo." the human said as Foros placed his hands on the ground. The ground then rumbled, and rocks flew up at high speeds. The attack subsided with all bookkeepers keeping their books locked up tight in their arms, and the demons with bruises on the arms.

"Those rocks hurt..." CJ muttered.

"Forizen." This time, vines shot out of Foros' hands, heading straight for the six books.

"Kaispheroshield!" Natsumi shouted as a blue shield surrounded them, blocking the vines.

"Looks like Foros will need some help." Mitao, the blond demon, said. "Luna, go out there." Another demon stepped up.

She had blond hair which reached her mid-back. A couple strands of hair fell between her eyes. Her hair had three curls on it, making it seem as three moons, and the highest curl had a silver band around it. She had ice blue eyes, and there was a blue tear shape under her left eye, and a blue star shape under her right. She wore a purple shirt and a blue skirt with lavender shoes.

Her human partner had brown hair that reached his chocolate brown eyes, a white shirt with a blue sweater over it, blue jeans, and black shoes.

"Monsi." He said as Luna raised her hand, and a barrage of golden stars shot out of it.

"Shiar!" Riley cried, and the wind spell appeared, sending the stars everywhere. The other demons did all they could to prevent the stars from hitting their books.

"Niasonia." This time, a staff appeared in Luna's hand. It had a golden star on top, and in the middle of the star was what seemed to be a...face.

"...What is that? It...isn't doing anything." Claire said, letting her guard down.

"It? _It?! _I am not an _it_, you brat!" The staff suddenly said, making everyone jump.

"I-it talks..." Demi said, wide-eyed.

"I just told you! _I am not an it!_ And of course I can talk! I can move on my own as well! Let go, Luna." Luna did as she was told, and the staff hovered over the ground. "I am Comet, Luna's staff. I can do more than just _walk _and _talk_. Mike, show them." Comet then made her way back to the demon's hand, and Luna's lavender book started glowing.

"Twifor." The star on the wand started glowing a pure white, and a rainbow-colored beam shot out of it.

"Lonashield!" Demi shouted, and a shield of fire appeared before them, but the beam easily pierced through the shield, and sent everyone flying backwards.

"Darn..." Vivi muttered. "We'll need to use our stronger shield next time."

"Ah ha _hah_!" Comet laughed, returning to normal. She then turned to Foros. "You! You attack as well."

"Don't tell me what to do." Foros said, facing the staff.

"I can tell you what to do if I want to!"

The group stared at the two. "Uh...this might be the right time to attack." Riley said, pointing at Mitao, who seemed frusterated.

"Right. We can do it." Lucas said, stepping up. "Boguru!" Rakete made a punching movemet towards Mitao, who didn't notice. Suddenly, an explosion appeared in front of her, and the demon was sent flying back.

"Grr..." Mitao growled, slowly getting up. "Sneak attacks, eh? That won't work. Luna!"

"Ra Moroku." Mike said, and Comet dissapeared into white spheres. The spheres then went into Luna, who started glowing white.

"Huh? What's happening?" Soren asked as Luna continued to glow. And, in an instant, she was gone and right in front of Mitao.

"So, a demon as a shield, eh?" Claire asked. "That won't do anything!"

"Taou Burokai!" A bunny appeared, and started heading straight towards Luna. As soon as the attack hit, a huge explosion occured, and smoke rose everywhere. When it cleared, it showed that Luna hadn't moved an inch, and she was hardly scratched.

"W-what happened?" Natsumi asked, falling to the floor. "How can she still be standing after a direct hit?"

"Heh." Mitao smirked. "That spell makes Luna temporarily invincible. No spell can break it. At least, not a spell that we know of." Luna stopped glowing as soon as Mike read another spell.

"Skilaron." Luna raised both hands in the air, and a giant version of Comet appeared.

"Oh, no no no no no." Vincent complained, clutching his hair with his hands. "And I thought the smaller version was enough. No, no, no."

Suddenly, the giant Comet dissapeared, and so did the lavender book.

"Huh? What happened?" Mitao asked, until she noticed that Mike wasn't holding the book.

Instead, the person holding the book had short brown hair, blue eyes, wore a green shirt with a tree on it, had long jeans and green and white shoes.

"This fight is done." The girl said, raising the lavender book high out of reach.

"Kara, you don't understand." Mitao growled. "Those guys are trying to defeat Flare. You can't let that happen!" Riley took this moment to attack.

"Wingfor!" And the sharp wind headed straight for Foros' book, and neither Foros nor his human partner were paying attention until the book was knocked out of the human's hands and hit the floor with a thud, the forest green book starting to burn.


	9. Holding Back: Leon and Julie

**A/N: Hey, maybe I'm going back to my 'update every day' streak again! Huzzah!**

**And, I need evil demons submitted as well! I have way too many 'good' OCs. I'll use them, but please start sending in evil ones. (:**

**And, thanks to sakura911 for allowing me to use their OCs. ^^ ****And yes, I know that Leon is a good character. ****He just isn't going to start out that way. You'll see what I mean in later chapters. (:**

**_________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"No! The book!" Foros screeched, diving for the burning black object that was his book. He desperately tried to extinguish the flames, but scorched his fingers instead. He then glared at Soren. "This is your fault!"

"My fault?" Soren asked. "I'm just abiding by the rules. Plus, you're in the way."

"Grr…" Foros growled, but then sighed, lowering his head. "…I should've been more careful…It doesn't matter, anyway." He then looked up at them with a toothy smile. "Flare will definitely burn all of your books, and I'll be more than avenged."

"No way!" Clare snapped. "We can do it! It'll be six verses one! How strong can one demon be-" She was cut off with a loud series of laughter by both Foros and Mitao.

"Ahah…" Foros said, his laughter dying down. "You honestly don't know what you're up against…Flare is the most powerful demon I know, and I know some pretty powerful demons. Don't say you weren't warned…Ahaha…" And with that, the demon faded away, along with his book.

"Heh," Mitao chuckled. "He was right. Flare is insanely strong. You don't have a chance. Honestly, we're doing you a favor by fighting _us _instead of _her_. And, let's let the fight continue on! With that, _give back Luna's book!_" She screamed, trying to snatch the lavender book from Kara. "While Kara won't read any of my spells, and with her having Luna's book…Leon! You're up next!"

"Huh?" Vincent looked around. There wasn't anyone there. "W-what is she talking about?"

"Saidom!" A girl's voice called out.

"Look out!" Demi yelled, pushing Lucas out of the way of what seemed to be a dark ball of energy. The attack then exploded once it hit the ground.

"Wingfor!" Riley said, Soren using the spell where the voice had seemed to come from.

"Not there." A boy's voice said. The girl took a moment to shout out another spell:

"Raibe-Saidom!"

"Kaispheroshield!" Natsumi cried, still on the ground from casting the large bunny, and the blue shield surrounded them again, but this time, a much larger version of the 'Saidom' attack appeared, and easily broke through. CJ took this time to transform back into a guinea pig.

"Shiar!"

"Bogushield!"

"Miiruk!"

"Elonashield!"

"Foshield!"

All the shields surrounded them at the same time, shielding them from every angle, Claire dragging Natsumi inside.

"Keep your shields up!" Riley shouted. "We don't know where it's going to hit us from!"

"Gyah!" CJ was blown back, his fur returning to normal, ramming into Vincent, who flew back and hit Claire and Natsumi, who were in the middle, and causing them to fly back into Lucas, who ran into Rakete, destroying their spells.

"H-hey…" Demi started, the shield disappearing. "Are you guys all right?"

"Just fine." Vincent mumbled, getting up. "But how was that attack so strong that it broke CJ's shield?"

"Hah!" Mitao laughed. "They're surrounded by the shadows in here. Unless you somehow manage to light up the place, you can't see them!"

"Light up the place?" Demi asked. "We don't need to do that. Vivi, we're going to use your baton, okay?"

"All right."

"Rinonaina!" a baton appeared in Vivi's hand, and she used it to fire small pink blasts of energy all around the darkness.

"Saishield!" Vivi focused the blasts on one area, and sure enough, the blasts came back, only bigger and more powerful.

"Get back!" Chikushou shouted, forcing everyone to the ground. Demi and Vivi stopped their spells and did the same, the pink blasts sailing over their heads.

"Keep at it, Leon! I'll warn Flare. Luna, you come as well." Mitao had finally given up on Kara. But when Kara let her guard down, the demon snatched the lavender book and tossed it back to Mike. "Mike! Read a spell!"

"Skilaron." Mike said, and the giant Comet appeared again.

"Hah!" the giant said. "I'm _back_!"

"No, no, no!" Vincent complained. "The giant version can talk as well?!"

"Oh, yes!" Comet screeched, laughing loudly. "And, I can do _so _much more!" Luna then hurled the staff at the twelve.

"Shiar!" Riley cried in a desperate attempt to block the giant. The spell failed, and Comet easily passed through the shield, sending everyone flying back, some even far enough to hit the walls, knocking some of them out.

"Gyahh…" Claire whispered, slowly standing up. "That spell…it's really strong…Natsumi! We have to fight back! Natsumi?" She then turned around to find her spell caster laying on the floor. "…She must've hit her head when she hit the wall…" Claire whispered, then turned back to Luna. "Then I'll do things my way!" She pulled out her gun she threatened Riley with about a week ago and started to charge at the blond demon known as Luna, but someone stopped her.

"No…Don't go, Claire…" Soren said, holding the other demon's hair slightly. "If you do, then…then…" She took a moment to find her words. "…Just don't. There's something about her that makes me feel as if she isn't trying to hurt us. That attack could've killed us, yet…That girl held back for some reason."

---

Luna was holding Comet in her hand again. "Mitao…" she said in a soft voice. "I…They're still alive."

"I know that!" Mitao snapped. "Why did you hold back?! They are trying to burn your book! Are you just going to let them?!"

"No, they aren't trying to burn her book." a voice said from behind them. A teen walked out, around fifteen. He wore a fish net tank top, black tight leather pants, black shoes, and around his neck was a silk choker with a silver bat hanging from it. "They're holding back, just like her."

"What?!" Mitao nearly screeched. She then quickly turned her head back to Luna. "Luna! Don't hold back next time, got that?" Luna didn't answer.

"…Leon's right, Mitao. They aren't trying to burn her book. And I know why." A girl around sixteen walked out behind Leon, the teen who walked out before. Her black hair went to her shoulders, and the ends of it were red, and her bangs covered her left eye. Her right eye, however, showed her deep blue eyes. She wore a black mini-skirt with ruffles underneath, a red tank top with chains wrapped around her waist, red and black fingerless gloves that went to her elbow, black combat boots, a chain necklace, sliver cross earrings, and on her back was a violin case.

"I don't need reasons." Mitao muttered in a low voice. "Luna, attack this time! You know what will happen if you don't." A silver glint caught Luna's eye, and the demon shivered slightly, but stood straighter than before.

"N-no…" she whispered. "…I won't." And with that, she dropped Comet, who fell to the floor with a thud.

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**A/N: Ahah, I couldn't resist that cliffhanger. (:**


	10. End of the Battle: Amu and Misaki

**A/N: I lost Luna's list of spells. -.- I had them all written down, and I can't remember a single one except for Skilaron. Agghh. D:**

**_____________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"What did you say?" Mitao growled, facing Luna. "You _will _attack them. And finish them."

"N-no…" Luna softly said, still unsure.

"…" Leon and Julie were silent the entire time, watching the two carefully.

"Fine, then! I'll do things my own way." Mitao turned, then faced Kara. "I know you have the book with you."

Kara slowly took out a black and blue spell book. "And," The demon continued. "If you don't, this knife here just might slip out of my hands…" Mitao took out the knife that caused the silver glint, which terrified Luna.

"R-Rian!" Kara instantly shouted. Mitao raised her hand and spikes made of what seemed to be energy shot out.

"Shiar!" Riley cried, still lying on the floor. The spell was weak, but managed to reflect the spikes in all directions.

"Riley?" Soren asked, turning around. She ran over to her bookkeeper, who had now fallen unconscious. The demon looked around, for anyone who was still awake besides Claire and herself. The only two she could find were CJ and Jhouru. "Great." She said sarcastically. "We're going to need to buy some time so we can get the others into a safe place, got it?" The other three nodded their heads.

"No where to run!" Mitao shouted.

"Retuyo!" The gloves on Mitao's hands grew longer and they became sharper. Soon, they became knives, and the demon who was attached to them gave a toothy smile.

"You'll never make it to Flare!" she shouted, running towards them at a high speed.

"Go!" Soren shouted, and the others ran off in all directions. When Mitao sped towards her, she raised her arms defensively and didn't flinch, even when Mitao jabbed into them.

"Move!" the blond demon shouted.

---

Luna looked at her bookkeeper. "M-Mike?" she asked. "Can we do anything to help them?" When he didn't answer, she looked at the ground and saw where she had dropped Comet, and picked the staff up.

"…You're going against Mitao now?" Comet asked, confused.

"I-I guess…"

"Twifor." Mike suddenly said, and Luna quickly pointed Comet ahead of her before Comet could whack her in the face with the beam. The beam was aimed at Mitao, who pulled her knives out of Soren's arms and dodged, causing Soren to be hit instead.

"Heh," Mitao smirked. "I won't be hit with small attacks like that." She scanned the room, and noticed Claire. "And I know you definitely won't hit _her_."

"Ridis!" And Mitao's body slowly turned transparent, into that of a ghost's. She quickly flew over to Claire, passing through everything that was in her way. When she was close enough, she rammed into the other demon, knocking her off balance. When Claire got up, the ghost Mitao was no where to be seen.

"Wake up," Jhouru pleaded, silently shaking Natsumi and Demi while CJ shook Vincent and Lucas. Soren managed to crawl there despite the pain and shook Riley and Chikushou. Natsumi on Jhouru's side stirred slightly, and she slowly stood up.

"You're awake!" CJ exclaimed. Natsumi put her hand to her head.

"Y-yeah…" she said. "Where's Claire?"

"She's…oh no! She's fighting Mitao!" Jhouru shouted, then looked around for the two. The only one he could see was Claire, off in the distance.

"Claire!" Natsumi shouted. "We're going to cast a spell! Aim for Luna!"

Off in the distance, Claire smirked. "As if," she whispered. "Flare can take care of her with her eyes closed." The demon aimed at Luna anyway.

"Kaichiro!"

Claire took this moment to turn and face the others before the beam came out of her hands.

"What?!" Soren shouted, before being blasted back by the beam along with everyone else.

"Claire, w-what are you doing?" Jhouru asked, slowly standing up.

"'I'm simply abiding by the rules,'" she mocked Soren. _I'm not about to give away the spell_, she thought.

Before anyone could say anything else, someone else shouted. "Moonzakare!"

A beam made of stars then collided with Claire, which went through her, forcing out Mitao, now in her solid form.

"Mitao was controlling her!" CJ shouted. He then looked to where the attack came from.

A short girl walked out of the shadows. She had short black hair that barely touched her shoulders, huge deep blue eyes with slits, and a dark blue robe like the king, Gash, wears, only it is topped with a blue cat and cross ribbon. She wore black leg warmers, and had blue cat ears and a tail to match.

A teenager walked out behind her. He had messy brownish black cat like hair, wore a black hoodie and baggy dark blue jeans with skater shoes, chain cross necklace and yellow eyes.

"Who're you?" Soren asked.

"I'm Amu," the girl said. "And this is my partner, Misaki." She hugged his leg like he was the last person in the world. Misaki sighed. When she let go, she spoke again. "Sorry we didn't help earlier. You didn't look like you needed the help, at least not until now."

Leon and Julie smiled in front of them. "Hey," Leon said. "Maybe we can beat Flare. We have a lot of people." Julie looked back at him.

"Maybe we…can."

"Don't be foolish!" Mitao screeched, slowly standing up. "Flare will not only burn all of your books, but hopefully kill you all as well!"

"…She won't have the chance to." Julie smiled. Mitao narrowed her eyes, then ran back to Kara.

"I'll warn her," she threatened. "She'll be ready." The blond demon then dragged Kara out of the room, running into a wall that she somehow easily passed through, leaving Luna, Mike, Amu, Leon, Natsumi, and the others behind.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

**A/N: Thus is the end of the three chapter battle! And yes, there will be more battles.**

**Wow, Mitao seemed to lose her cool at the end. OOC? I'd guess so. But how would you be able to keep your cool while losing? :/**

**Oh, and thanks to Bunnys-n-PenguinsWillRuleEarth for the new bad guy. I'll use him in later chapters. ^^**

**And, I'll also try to make my chapters longer. They're getting shorter. D:**


	11. Hallucinations: Robin and Petal

**This chapter will introduce Noire Ballerina's OC's.**

**But a note to Magic Jac: I need your spell names, not just the type of attacks. I don't think you'd like me to create your spells for you, so ... You can start using spells when I get the spell names. Your characters will still appear, it's just that they won't use any spells. Unless you would like me to name the spells myself. In that case, I need to know. ^^;;**

**Enjoy!**

**______________________________________________________________________________________________________**

Luna sighed softly, then turned to look at Amu. She hoped she hadn't made a huge mistake by joining them. The others didn't seem to be very bright. But still, it was better than working for Flare and Mitao, right?

"We should rest a bit before continuing," the demon said, looking at the unconscious members of the group worriedly. "Flare is strong, and she has more minions waiting for us."

"Yeah…" Jhouru chuckled. "Rest sounds…kind of…good." He then collapsed, falling asleep almost instantly, his face on the floor.

"You idiot," Claire said, crossing her arms. "Falling asleep at a time like this?" Natsumi laughed, then sat down tiredly.

"Well, we're resting anyway. Might as well get some sleep as well. Seeing how we all made it out of it alive, that wasn't so bad, was it?."

"You're wrong." Leon suddenly spoke up, causing everyone who was awake to look at him, confused. "Things won't be that easy next time. Mitao didn't use half her spells. But," he looked ahead of himself, a large smile on his face noticeable. "We know everyone who works for Flare, and we know the entire way around this place. Luna does as well. We can be of huge help to you guys." Luna nodded.

"…Who is this…_Flare_?" A voice from across the room asked, and they noticed Vincent had woken up, relieved to see that CJ and the book were both still there, and not gone.

"Well…" Luna spoke. "She's kind of the demon behind all of this. She has a plan that will never work, not even in her dreams. It's too..." She trailed off.

"It's just…impossible." Julie finished. Luna nodded and continued on.

"Her goal is unbelievable…and foolish at the same time." she added. "But Flare is strong enough even without the plan to rule over Makai."

"…Makai?" Natsumi asked.

"Basically the name of our world." Amu pointed out, finger pointing up. Natsumi nodded understandingly.

"That's why we have to take her down…" Luna continued on. "But some books will be destroyed in the process. There's no way we can all make it out of here alive."

"You got that right!" a girl's voice said from behind them, and they turned to indeed see a girl. She had straight pale blue hair that went to her chin, a Star Gazer Lily on the side, light purple eyes that sparkled with something that didn't seem to fit her tone of voice. Her skin was lightly tanned, as well.

By her was a teen who looked a year older than Riley, Chikushou, Vincent, Lucas, and Demi. She had light blond hair that reached down to her shoulders, pale skin, and olive green eyes. She wore a dark jean jacket with a green tee underneath. She wore a black skirt that went inches over her knee, purple and pink striped knee-highs, and white flats. On her head was a red beret.

"Who're you?" Claire asked, getting ready to pull the gun out when needed be.

"Robin and Petal," Leon breathed. "I don't know what they're capable of."

"The trouble is…" Luna began. "They don't seem bad at all. Maybe we can get them on our side."

"They aren't bad." Julie said. "Thing is, they're just confused about it all. Petal believes in Flare's absurd plan, and she doesn't want to defy Flare either. She's worried her partner will get hurt, and she'll blame it on herself if that happens. Apparently, Flare sees something in her, some power that she absolutely needs. I haven't been close enough to Flare to realize what that is she wants other than becoming ruler."

"Then we'll have to battle. She won't listen to us if we explain it that way." Vincent said, reaching for the brown spell book a few inches in front of him.

"Lavenderest!" The older girl, Robin, shouted as sharp lavender petals shot out from Petal's hand, aiming straight at Amu. Petal's rose red book glowed brightly with energy.

"Gayzakaraga!" Misaki yelled. A giant sphere surround them all, even the ones across the room. The petals broke through quite easily.

"My petals can cut through a lot of things." Petal said, her arm still raised.

"Saishield!" This time, it was Leon's turn. The petals took a bit of effort, but managed to break it.

"Kaispheroshield!" Natsumi shouted. The blue shield easily deflected the petals, unlike the other two.

"Why did the petals get weaker?" Vincent asked, stunned. Jhouru, who had woken up when he heard an unfamiliar voice, answered.

"It's because of the other two shields. It weakened them."

"You won't be so lucky next time!" Petal shouted.

"Liluruk!" Petals rained from the ceiling, pelting them in different colors. After a few seconds, the petals all disappeared, leaving no apparent scratches.

"Hey…" Soren said suddenly, smiling. "Why does Vincent look like a giant fish?"

"I…What?!" Vincent tried to run away from the demon who was chasing him. "I do _not _look like a fish!"

"Ahah!" Claire laughed. She looked around herself. "…Why are you all staring at me? WHY?!" The small demon than brought out her gun and pointed it threateningly at the 'people'.

"Claire! There's no one there! Put that candy cane away!" Natsumi screeched.

Jhouru, CJ, Amu, Luna, Misaki, Mike, Leon, and Julie stared at them, wondering what the heck was wrong with them. They were the only ones not touched by the petals. Jhouru turned around quickly and faced Petal.

"What did you do to them?" he asked. Petal stared at them, a smile on her lips.

"…You people are weird…" She started. "I've never made hallucinations like _that._"

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

**A/N: Hallucinations! OMG!**

**...And what is Flare's plan? Only I know! ^^**

**Ahah. Hopefully it was longer. Which it was, by a few words. O.o;;**

**Two chapters in one day! xD**


	12. The Castle in the Sky: Maika and Koto

**A/N: I now present you…the longest chapter in the whole story. No really, it's over two thousand words long. Take as an...apology, for it being late, ahaha...^^;;**

**Oh yes, it features Flare. Finally. And, I introduce two new OC's of mine. I won't be adding any more OC's in this arc, but they WILL be in the next arc for sure. Unless I change my mind and add them anyway. But really, it's getting hard keeping track of everyone.**

**Maika, Koto, Flare, Alex, Riley, Soren, Luna, and Mike all belong to me. I don't own anything else. All other characters go to their creators, and I do NOT own Zatch Bell, or Konjiki no Gash Bell. I own NOTHING except the names listed above.**

**Enjoy!**

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

"Weird, huh?" Jhouru repeated, staring at Petal sternly. He then turned around to the 'candy cane holding' Claire, the 'fish' Vincent, and Soren and Natsumi. "They wouldn't really act like that… What does your spell do?"

"Isn't it obvious? It makes people hallucinate, see things that aren't there…Or, in your friends' cases, seeing the wrong objects."

"Petal," a voice cooed, echoing off the walls. "Let them through."

"W-what?" Petal asked, shocked. She looked up at the ceiling. "…But why?"

"Because," the voice continued. "I want to know if they're capable of defeating me."

Claire snapped out of her hallucination, confused. The people surrounding her disappeared, thankfully before she shot anyone. She noticed the voice, and was currently searching for the source of it, when she noticed Luna, who was standing stiffly.

"L-Luna?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"This voice…" the blond demon whispered. "It belongs to Flare."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Flare, what are you doing?" someone asked. She had bright orange hair that ended at her waist. She wore armor-like clothes, with a color scheme of red and gold. Her red eyes pierced into the powerful demon before her, who didn't flinch. Her pants were a solid red, and her shoes were a solid gold color.

"I told you. I want to know if they can beat me." Flare smirked.

"But why? We didn't do anything!" the girl shouted, pointing to a teenager behind her. She had blond hair, blue eyes, a black shirt, and blue jeans.

"No worries. I have a task for you. You two are the only ones left besides Mitao, but she won't be very useful in this plan."

"What plan?" The demon asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Oh, this plan will lure them here."

"…How is it going to lure them here? They don't know where _here _is."

"Simple. I just need your's and Maika's help." Flare turned to face the girl, an evil smirk on your face. "I just need to borrow these people. I learned their names when they called each other, I hope you know who they are. Here." she handed the girl a slip of paper. "I'm a fast learner."

"…Fine. Let's go, Maika." the demon then turned, Maika following behind.

"Oh, wait a minute." Flare said. The girl stopped where she stood. "Bring them _here_. All four of them."

She nodded, then walked on.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"…" Petal stood silent, staring out into space.

"Petal?" a voice said behind her. "Petal!" The demon turned to find her bookkeeper staring at her. "…Flare isn't telling the truth, is she?" Petal shook her head.

"No, she isn't. She has something planned…"

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Claire shouted, her gun still out. She pointed it dangerously at the walls.

"Claire! Put that…away!" Natsumi shouted, shaking her head at the third word. She had snapped out of the hallucination.

"FISH!" Soren screamed, about to bite Vincent's arm when she snapped out of it as well.

"Oh, thank goodness." Vincent whispered silently. "A second later, and I would be missing an arm. Now get OFF!" He shook his arm wildly, flinging the nine year old demon off.

---

"…Is that them?" Maika asked, staring at the unconscious people of the group.

"Yeah, it is." the demon girl nodded. "You take that one covered in armor and the one with the gun. I'll take those two." she pointed at the two figures in front of her.

"But…" the teen whispered, staring at Claire. "What if she…"

"She won't. Just throw this at her." the girl handed Maika a round object.

"Uh, what is this?"

"You'll see." she then grabbed the two hands and started to pull them into the shadows. Flare needed them for something, but she didn't know what. When the three were gone, Maika looked ahead of her. The armored one would be heavy, but not a problem. It was Claire she worried about. That demon was in plain sight! Everyone would notice her for sure.

"Unless…" she whispered, looking at the round object in her hand. Maika then ran over to Rakete, and with a great bit of effort, pulled him into the shadows. She then looked up at Claire, and hurled the object with all her might. It landed in front of the demon, who stared at it.

"It…didn't do anything?"

---

"Hey…what's this?" Claire asked, about to pick up the silver round object that rolled to her feet. As soon as her finger touched it, white smoke came out and covered her in it. She then felt a tugging on her arm. "Hey!" she yelled. "Let go!" The demon then tried running away, but the tugging was a bit too strong for her, and she was also pulled back.

"What is that?" Julie asked, staring at the smoke.

"Whatever it is, it's there for a reason. Claire must've done something." Jhouru said, running to where it was coming from.

"Claire?" Natsumi asked, worry in her voice. "Claire!"

The six(they got help from Vincent, Soren, and Petal for some reason)then tried to clear away the smoke. After five minutes of flailing their arms about, it was gone. But…so was Claire.

---

"Grr…" Maika growled, holding on to Rakete's and Claire's hands. Claire was still kicking her legs, of course. It made it harder for Maika to hold on. But since the demon was still holding her weapon, she held on for her life.

"Looks like Maika's finally back." Flare smirked as soon as the blond teen entered the room.

"This…isn't easy." The teen panted. "One is heavy and the other is trying to escape."

"…I can see that. That's why I told you to bring them." Her demon said, crossing her arms.

"Who…the heck are you?!" Claire shouted, staring fiercely at Flare.

"…I'm shocked. Really, now." she said, pretending to be hurt. "I thought you'd know me by now." Flare then smiled. But it wasn't evil. It was…kind. "I'm Flare."

"…You?" The demon asked. By now, she had stopped kicking her feet. "You're Flare?" she then burst out into laughter. "No offence, but I thought you'd be scarier looking than _that!_ Ahaha!"

Flare then frowned, and turned to the demon girl next to her. "Koto, would you-"

"Not a problem." Koto, the demon girl, raised her hand at Claire, who was still laughing.

"Mutarai!" Maika shouted, pressing her arm against a glowing red orange book.

A black music note flew out of Koto's hand, and straight at the laughing Claire. When the music note hit her face, Claire stopped laughing, wondering what the spell did. She then turned to Koto, and said something no one could hear. The demon looked confused for a second, then screamed.

Silence.

"Heh. That spell makes you completely mute." Koto smirked. Claire tried yelling once more, but yet again, no sound was heard.

"…Hey, it's actually quieter in here." Maika pointed out.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

"…I might know where your demon is…" Petal said softly to Natsumi. Soren then ran up to her.

"Where? Where is she?!"

"Flare might have her…Go through the wall on your left and climb up the stairs. There, you'll be faced by a room with one door. But that door is fake, it has a wall behind it. The real door is on the floor, hidden by a spell. You can't see it, but you can feel it. Open it, then jump down. You will fall for about thirty seconds, then you will fall on a golden surface. Look ahead of yourself, and there will be a stairway. Open the door on top and you'll be where Flare is. I heard there is another way, but I don't know-"

"That's fine. We have everything we need to know on Flare's whereabouts." Jhouru said.

"I'll carry the others." Leon volunteered.

"That's fine, but there are too many of them. I'll help." Luna said, Mike behind her, nodding.

"No wait, I can help as well!" Amu shouted.

"No way," Soren scoffed. "You can't hold even one person."

"Can too!"

"Can not!"

"Can too!"

"Can not!"

"Can-"

"Stop it already!" Vincent shouted, shutting the two girls up. "You can ALL carry them! Just shut UP!"

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

"AHH!" Amu screeched. "Okay, I don't want to hold Demi anymore! What if she lands on me?"

"Too bad!" Soren shouted. "You said you wanted to carry someone, and you will carry them to the end!"

They were currently falling down the thirty second fall. When they found out that Rakete, Chikushou, and Riley were also gone, Soren broke into tears and blamed herself for not paying attention. Petal said that Flare must've also taken them along with Claire, and that they wouldn't find them in the room. Soren reluctantly followed them when they almost left her.

Vincent complained about running through the wall, but Petal told him he wouldn't get hurt, and he believed her. He ran through with all his might, and passed through easily, but tripped on the first step and swore loudly, causing giggles from the children.

Natsumi was actually nearly silent the whole time, something that didn't seem like her. When Luna asked if she was all right, she said she worried about Claire. Luna reassured her that Claire was fine, and if she was in trouble, the book would automatically go up in flames. Natsumi agreed with her and smiled, but she still didn't say anything afterwards.

"We're almost there!" Robin shouted to everyone. "About fifteen seconds left!"

"But I don't see a floor beneath us!" CJ shouted.

"Don't worry!" Petal smiled.

"Ten…nine…eight…" Petal's bookkeeper chanted.

"We're gonna DIE!" Amu screamed.

"No! No, we're not! Stop saying that!" Jhouru shouted.

"Three…two…one!" And Robin was right. The landed abruptly on a golden floor that appeared just a second ago. Everyone got up instantly. Well, everyone except Amu.

"…I don't want to carry Demi anymore…" she whispered.

---

"They're about to arrive!" Maika screeched.

"I know, I can hear them." Flare replied, staring ahead of them. Her bookkeeper, Alex, stood next to her. He had blond hair, wore an orange shirt, and wore brown jeans and black shoes.

"NOW!" A voice shouted, and a number of figures ran up to Flare, but instead ran into an invisible wall.

"Uh, oops…" Maika laughed nervously, then pushed a button. The wall disappeared, and all the figures at the front fell in.

"I hate this place…" Vincent muttered.

"Welcome…" Flare smiled, standing tall. "To my castle in the sky."  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**A/N: Yeah...Finally, an update. ^^**

**I don't know when the next chapter will be out. I got lucky today, the internet came back. But I _know _it will be out again tomorrow. I just know it. If not, I'll be surprised. xD**

**So...stay tuned? :3**


	13. Lies and Disbeliefs: Alex and Flare

**A/N: Hey, the internet isn't out. I'm shocked, really. It went out earlier, though. For like, a minute. XD Here's the next chapter.**

**Flare's crazy plan is revealed!**

**And…there is a poll on my profile now. 'Who's book do you think replaced Vincent's?' Don't get it? Well, you'll get it once you read the chapter. Yes, I have already decided on who's book will be burned. But who do YOU think? Hm? Their book will be burned(or burning)in the next chapter.**

**So, who do you think? :3**

**And Magic Jac's OC's will be introduced next chapter. (:**

**Also, there is swearing in this chapter. Oh noez! But it's rated T for a reason, people.**

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"Y-You!" Soren shouted, pointing at Flare accusingly. "Where are Claire and the others?"

"Hmm? Oh, they're safe, trust me." The demon smiled evilly.

"You didn't answer me!" The nine year old continued. "_Where are they_?"

"Why would you need to know where they are as long as you know they're safe? Honestly, you'd think I would kill them? Well, actually, I would. But, why would I capture them if I didn't want something in return? You'd be of no use to me if they were dead."

Natsumi let out a sigh. They were safe. She didn't have to worry about Claire. The demon could take care of herself, anyway. But still, she couldn't help but feel a tinge of worry deep inside.

"If you really want to see them, be my guest." Flare spoke. "But you can only see the silent one. I honestly have no clue where Maika and Koto put the other three."

Maika pushed another button on her side, and a wall opened up. Claire was pushed out, and she said something, but no one heard.

"Claire!" Natsumi nearly shouted. Claire shouted something back, but no sound came out of her throat.

"…Huh? I can't hear you!" CJ strained his ears.

"There's a spell on her," the demon to the right suddenly said. "She's mute. She can't talk. No one can hear her."

"Yes, it's Koto's spell." Flare smirked. "Only way to get your friend to talk again is if Koto and Maika wish it, or if Koto's book is burned. Too bad the spell won't work on humans."

"Yeah, if it did, we could easily become ruler." Koto smirked. "The human wouldn't be able to cast a spell."

"Lavenderest!" Robin suddenly shouted as the petals appeared again. They went straight towards the book in Maika's hand.

"Oh, not so fast." Flare said, her smirk vanishing.

"Shiflaro." Flare's golden orange book started to glow, and a huge shield appeared in front of Maika. The petals made a few slices in the shield, but the metal held until the petals vanished.

"So," Flare said, turning to Petal as the shields started to vanish. "I'm guessing you're a traitor now. And you as well, Leon. I never expected this. But then again, it won't make much of a difference. The machine is almost complete."

"…What machine?" Jhouru asked.

"It's a part of Flare's absurd plan." Luna said softly, her hands twitching. "She plans on creating a machine that can burn every single demon's book she sees. It's impossible. But Flare thinks differently."

"A machine that can immediately set a book on fire?" Soren asked.

"I wouldn't have worded it like that, but yes. It's virtually impossible, unless it shoots a beam faster than the eye can follow. I haven't seen the blueprints." she looked up. "But if that's the case, we need to burn Flare's book as soon as possible."

"Impossible? Hah!" Flare laughed. "It's very possible. All I had to do was sacrifice some of my friend's books. But it's not like I care. Once I become ruler, nothing will matter other than ruling! Those idiots will do anything I say. If they disobey, I can send them off to prison. Mitao will deal with them there."

"You…" Soren breathed.

"You would really burn your friends' books just so you could become ruler?" Amu screeched. "What kind of creep are you?!"

"Friends?" Flare scoffed. "They would turn against me anyway. I just used their books as target practice for the prototype. They practically gave the books to me. It's the rules, honey. Don't you know?"

"I know that very well…" Jhouru narrowed his eyes.

"But they trusted you!" Julie screamed. "They didn't think you'd pull a weapon like that out! When you return to Makai, they'll hate you! You're cheating! You're supposed to fight, not create something like that!"

"Hate me?" Flare sighed. "Why are we arguing about some ridiculous subject? I thought you wanted to know if your friends were safe. Well, they won't be. Not anymore. Not after you didn't give me a chance to explain myself."

"Explain _what_?!" Soren screeched. "You don't have anything to explain, bastard! All I know is that you have our friends, and that we have to fight you!" she brought her voice to a whisper. "Now that I know how you act…Now that I know what's going on…I now know one other thing." She raised her voice to a yell again.

"I have to beat you, and I will! I'm not alone! I have _friends _and _allies _with me! You're outnumbered, and your book will go up in _flames_!"

"Oh, really?" With a snap of her finger, Flare vanished. The others looked around before smoke appeared in front of Vincent, and an arm reached out, snatched the book, and tossed it high in the air.

"No!" Vincent cried, trying to grab it, but it was too high out of reach.

Another snap was heard, and Flare was standing in her original position, her golden orange book in her bookkeeper's arms glowing.

"Firo." He said calmly. A huge flame came out of Flare's palm, and headed straight for the book. The sixteen year old squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to believe that CJ was really about to disappear.

Footsteps were heard, and the sound of something hitting the floor. Vincent opened his eyes just enough to see that it was _his _book that had hit the floor, but something was off.

"It's…not on fire." He breathed. The teen looked up to see what had happened, and his eyes widened in shock when he saw that someone else had knocked his book out of the way, and replaced it with their own book.

**_______________________________________________________________________________________________________**

**A/N: And this is where the poll on my profile comes in. (:**

**Cliffhanger. Uh oh. You didn't really think I was gonna let CJ vanish so soon, right? I still have some other insults Soren can throw at him!**

**Uh, yeah…XD I'll try to update soon. ^^**


	14. The Demon of Wishes: Mike and Luna

**A/N: Remember when I said that Magic Jac's OC's would be in this chapter?**

**Well, I lied. I _really_ thought I'd add them in this time, but…I just had to add the epic battle between Flare and a certain demon. o.o;;**

**Next chapter for sure!**

**If you chose Luna in the poll, you are correct! Here are five cookies. -Hands out invisible cookies-**

**If you chose anyone else, you also get five cookies. After all, I gave no clue on who it was, ehehe...**

**______________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"Luna!" Vincent shouted out. The fire had disappeared, and the mentioned demon's lavender colored book was on the ground, a corner of it starting to burn. Apparently, the corner was hit while the whole thing was falling down.

"That's fine." the blond demon said. "I can't let you disappear so soon. But I'll fight Flare until my book turns to ashes. While I do that, free your friend and find the others." She then sprinted off towards the middle of the room where Flare stood. Mike simply picked up the book, not caring if his hands were going to get burned.

"Monsi." The golden stars shot out of Luna's hand, heading for Flare.

"Shiflaro."

The stars collided with the shield, neither of the two demons thinking about holding back. Luna retracted her arm and stopped the flow of stars.

"Niasonia."

"AHA!" The staff cried out upon being summoned. "Wait...we're fighting Flare? But that means..." she looked back. "Oh, your book is burning..."

"It doesn't matter, Comet." Luna said. "But I'll need you to stay here for a while. Mike!"

"Stafaron."

"Another spell?" Soren asked, wide-eyed.

Comet started glowing for a few seconds, then Luna dropped her. Comet remained on the floor while her master continued to fight.

"But Luna..." The staff whispered, knowing that the demon couldn't hear her.

"What did that do?" Natsumi asked no one in particular.

By then, the bottom half of Luna's book was burning, but Mike kept his grip on it, even when the heat completely engulfed his fingers.

"Cosentra." Mike said as Luna raised her hands up high.

"I know all of your spells, Luna!" Flare hissed. "I can deflect them all!"

"I don't care if you deflect them," the blond demon said as her hands started to glow purple, then a bright white. A large beam started to shoot out of them. She then whispered, "I just need to stall you long enough."

---

"Come on!" Amu yelled at Claire. The demon was still silent, so they decided to quickly burn Koto's book the moment they could. "Come on, Claire!" Claire was getting used to running again, after being cramped in the wall for a while.

'I'm trying,' she mouthed, but no one heard.

"Not so fast!" Maika yelled suddenly, and they all stiffened, thinking she spotted them all. "Kanromi!" Koto shot a ball of green energy at Luna.

"Sh-Shiar!" a voice cried, and the wind spell suddenly appeared in front of Luna, sending the energy straight back at Koto, who didn't expect the reflection. She was knocked off of the pedestal she was standing on.

"Riley?" The nine year old looked around for him, but saw no one but those who she knew were there.

"Who did that?!" She screamed, getting up. All she noticed was Claire and the others. The demon then turned to Soren. "I thought we had your bookkeeper!"

Misaki took this as a chance to attack Maika. "Moonzakare!" The star beam shot out of Amu's mouth and also knocked Koto's bookkeeper off of her pedestal.

"Grr…Kanromi!" Koto fired the green energy at the group.

"Kaispheroshield!" Natsumi yelled in a rush as the blue shield protected them all. "Hey, we can still use spells, Claire being silent and all!"

"Shardar!" Jhouru suddenly shot out three shards, two heading for Maika, and one heading for Koto. Koto put up her arms in defense and the shard dug into her front arm. Maika, however, dodged one shard but the other hit her leg.

"...Chikushou?" the demon asked, surprised.

---

"What's going on?!" Flare screeched, looking back. She was hit by Luna's active spell and was sent flying back. The demon quickly turned back around and stood up. "Alex, read a more powerful spell!"

"Foronikuroga." A large wing made of fire then appeared above Flare's hand. She brought her hand down as fast and as hard as she could. The wing headed straight for Luna, who didn't move at all.

"Wishield."

A giant shield appeared over Luna's head as the wing collided with it.

"Luna," Comet suddenly said, now floating next to her master. "Why leave me here? What use will I be of?"

"You'll be of much use," Luna promised. "You know a lot about Flare. So do Petal and Leon, but more help is good. And plus, you can always return to me. But for now, let's focus on burning Flare's book."

"But I can't use spells without your book!"

"That won't be needed. Flare can't kill you, unless she breaks you in half or something. Just stay away from her and give the others hints, okay?"

"But-" Before Comet could speak again, the shield broke and the wing crashed down on Luna and her staff.

"That's it! I'm ending this now!" Flare shouted. "Alex!"

"Miora Lo Kurizuku."

The demon raised her arms up high, and then faced the palms of her hands at Luna. A large phoenix made completely of fire appeared in front of her palms.

"No shield of yours can stand up to _this_." The now half-crazed demon muttered.

"I don't need to have a shield." Luna sighed as she started to turn transparent. "I just need to use one more spell, and I'm done. It can't burn your book, but…it will help the others."

"Korinau La Moribonen." Mike said.

The book was now completely covered in fire, but Mike wasn't about to let go. Not yet. Only after Luna uses her final spell will he let go of the book.

And use her final spell, she did.

A large transparent dragon emerged out of Luna's nearly gone person, and it didn't head for the phoenix. No, instead, it headed straight for Soren.

Before she could react, the dragon passed through her, doing no visible harm. She started to glow for a few seconds, staring at her hands.

"What did she…do?"

The dragon soon passed through everyone else as well, and through the wall, into the people who were supposedly behind it. The wall disappeared, and Luna smiled. There were the other missing ones. The only one who was still unconscious was Rakete, but he was on the verge of waking up.

"I'm done here." she said, and the phoenix crashed through her.

When the smoke cleared, Luna was gone, her lavender book nothing more than soot on Mike's burned hands.

"Now it's your turn…" he said to the others. This was actually the first time he spoke without saying a spell. "Defeat Flare and Koto.

"For Luna…the demon of wishes."

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**A/N:…This was actually longer than I planned it to be. o.o;;**

**But that's good, isn't it? The missing people(and demon)were recovered. But sadly, Luna is gone.**

**What did Luna's dragon do? What was Comet talking about? What did Mike mean by the demon of wishes?**

**The second question will be answered next chapter. The first one…I don't know, really. That will be answered when I get close enough to the subject again. ^^;; And the last question? It has something to do with the first question. :3**


	15. All Talk and No Game: Koto vs Claire

**A/N: So, I FINALLY get Magic Jac's OC's in. :D**

**Now, I will use any bad demons you send me. Everyone will have someone to battle.**

**Like in this chapter, it will be Claire and Natsumi vs. Maika and Koto.**

**And other vs. will appear as well.**

…**And honestly, I didn't really think this story would go this far.**

**Thank you, everyone! -Sniffle-**

**I'll try my best to update often!**

**So, read!**

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"…" Flare remained silent, staring at where Luna used to stand just mere moments ago. Alex had no more heart energy to cast any more spells; he had to rest. And for that, she had to retreat. For now.

"Koto," she said. "Take care of them. I'll see our progress on the machine." With that, she ran off, through a wall, Alex following behind.

"Heh," Koto smirked. "Finally I get to do something."

"Go!" Natsumi yelled to the others. "Flare can't cast another spell, now is your chance! I'll hold Koto off!"

"You aren't getting away that easily!" Maika shouted. "Kioralumese!"

As Koto lifted her hands, a green shield covered the part of the wall where Alex and Flare escaped.

"Wingfor!" Riley shouted after running out of the wall he and the other three were trapped in. The wind spell attacked the shield, but the spell was reflected and sent right back at them.

"Elesto!" a male's voice shouted, and a demon suddenly appeared in front of them all, absorbing the wind spell. The group turned their heads to where the voice came from, and saw a tan skinned boy.

He wore a red jacket with a black shirt under it, green pants, a white scarf wrapped around his neck, and on his head was a yellow hat.

The demon in front of them had red hair, wore a purple shirt, red pants, and sandals on his feet.

"Hey, you're…" Petal started. "You're…Dinemo, right? I think I remember you from Makai. But back then, you didn't seem so willing to protect anyone."

"Protect?" Dinemo sneered. "I'm not protecting anyone." He stood straight before continuing.

"I've got a history with Flare. And her plan? It's very possible. She'll definitely become ruler if she completes it. And I'm not ruining my chances of becoming king. And for that…" He stopped before continuing. "I guess I'd need help. But Flare is vulnerable now. This is the perfect time to strike. And we'll run towards that shield in ten seconds."

"Why?" Soren asked, confused.

"Five, four, three…"

"Hey!" Amu screeched. "I'm not bouncing off that shield!"

"One, run!" Dinemo ignored the two and sprinted at the shield. The others stared at him, confused, but followed him anyway. Sure enough, the shield disappeared a second before they got there, and they passed through. A few seconds later, and Maika shouted the spell again and the shield returned.

"…How did you know?" Leon asked.

"Simple. Her." He pointed at the demon on the other side of the shield. Claire. "She went for the book while I was talking, and I simply calculated the time it would take before she got there, idiot." Dinemo turned around. "Let's go. Before Flare is able to cast a spell again."

They ran off, some hesitantly. Apparently Leon didn't like the idea of being called an idiot, and grudgingly followed.

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"Oh, look. Staying here to protect your friends?" Koto smirked after kicking Claire off of her bookkeeper. "Well, if you really want to die…Maika!"

"Kanromi!" The green energy spell headed straight for Claire and Natsumi.

"Kaispheroshield!" Natsumi shouted, and the spell was easily blocked. The shield was bigger for some reason, and it even seemed stronger. Natsumi wasn't putting all that much heart energy into it...

"Hah! Your spell's pretty weak!" Claire shouted, before realizing something. "Hey…I can talk. I CAN TALK!"

"Not for long, brat…" Koto sneered. "I'll wipe you off the face of this planet."

"Not if I wipe you off first!…With a…cloth!" Claire screeched back.

"Claire…" Natsumi sighed. "That made no sense whatsoever. But anyway, hands in front of you. Kaichiro!"

The solar beam headed straight for Koto. "Not yet!"

"Kishield!" A huge shield made of a green metal appeared in front of Koto. When the beam hit, the shield started to break, but when Maika put in more heart energy, the shield became stronger, and the cracks started to disappear. After a while, both spells wore off.

Natsumi widened her eyes in surprise. Even the Kaichiro was bigger, and stronger. _I don't think the regular Kaichiro would be able to even create a dent in that shield...What's going on?_ She thought.

"Not bad," Claire said. "But we've got more tricks up our sleeve!"

"Kai Sorudo!" A huge sword appeared in the demon's hand, and she immediately started slashing the air, slicing sideways. When she did that, a solar disc shot out from the sword, and straight at her opponents. Neither of the two had time to react, and they were sent blown back.

Claire ran up close to them, and started using it like a real sword, but still used the solar discs. Koto, not having time to recover, was being flung back, causing her to use her arms as a shield for a temporary defense. When the demon was struck yet again, she didn't try to get up. Instead, she lay there, breathing heavily.

Natsumi used this as the perfect time to snatch Koto's book from Maika, who was still on the ground from the first disc flung. She reached over to grab the book, and before the other bookkeeper could react, snatched it from her hand and ran back.

"Claire! I have Koto's book!" she called. "Come back!" Claire smiled and nodded. Koto wasn't as strong as she thought she was. Either that, or Claire and Natsumi have gotten stronger. The demon was about to run back when she felt a tugging on her hair. She tried to run faster, but the grip held tighter, causing even more pain.

"You aren't going to burn _my _book, brat…" Koto breathed. "I'm not done yet-"

"Kaichiro!" Natsumi interrupted, and Koto was sent flying back once more, knocking into a wall and falling unconscious.

When Claire returned, Natsumi smiled at her. "Ready?"

"Yep! It's been a while since I burned a book with my own hands!"

"Kaichiro!"

After that, the green shield disappeared as Koto's book began to burn, the demon turning transparent. When she vanished, the other two quickly headed for the wall and easily ran through and started the long climb up the stairs.

"…That wasn't so bad," Natsumi said, smiling.

"Nope!" Claire smirked back at her spell caster. "It wasn't. Let's meet up with the others and kick Flare back to the-"

And she was interrupted as the two ran into a circular room, where her allies were. Also in there was an enemy the two didn't recognize, and a book was burning.

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**A/N: I actually ran into the problem on whether I should burn Claire's book or not. XD**

**I chose no, as I may need her for later.**

**And yes, Claire's spells are bigger and more powerful. Why? You'll find out in due time...**

**But yeah. Internet is still up, and I'm happy.**

**And, I updated a few hours before I usually do! xD**

**Koto is weak, really. Despite how she acts, her spells really don't do anything. So Natsumi and Claire got off easily.**

**So, next chapter will be an ally vs. an enemy, like this one. They will all lead up to the battle with Flare.**

**This arc isn't going to end so soon! xD**


	16. The Invincible Demon: Tanya vs Rakete

**A/N: Internet? Yeah, still working. (:**

**Another vs. chapter! Next chapter will be a vs. chapter as well, but still. XD**

**And, if your book gets burned at anytime throughout the story, whether it be in this arc or not, the human will still make appearances, though they can't fight anymore. (:**

**Also, I know Tanya's spell did something different, but I'm not exactly sure about what scary stories she's heard about before, so I've…edited her first spell. But just a little bit. It still has the same effect. (:**

**Enjoy!**

**__________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"N-no way…" Claire muttered under her breath. "He can't…he's unstoppable!" Natsumi nodded in agreement.

"His…book is burning. We're going to lose another member of our team…" It was then she noticed that everyone in the room, besides the enemy, their bookkeeper, the demon whose book was burning, and his bookkeeper, were completely frozen. Not ice cold type frozen, but frozen in time type frozen.

"…What happened?" The demon asked, disbelief in her voice.

---

_During Claire and Natsumi's battle with Maika and Koto…_

"There!" Soren shouted, pointing at the stream of light that barely showed behind a large door. "But how are we going to get in? That thing must weigh a ton!"

"Leave it to us," Dinemo said. "Lee, read the spell."

"Dranake!" The human shouted.

A huge snake made completely out of stone lashed out from the ground and in front of the door. It then proceeded to ram it's head into it, causing the Earth to shake with each hit. Finally, after warming up, the snake drew back, and swiftly and fiercely crashed into the door, causing it to open all the way.

The snake then disappeared and the group ran through.

"About time," a female's voice said. She wore a red poncho that ended at her wrist with swirls over it, a black skirt that ended a little above her knees, and she had white and blue boots that went up to her knees. She had dark blue hair that was tied in a braid and was in front of her neck like a necklace.

The older girl next to her had blond hair that reached down to her shoulders with brown tips, and her bangs went to her eyebrows. She wore a yellow sweater and wore a white shirt with lightning bolts under the sweater. The teen had black pants and combat boots.

"Just give in. Please? It will be easier for all of us." The demon smiled a kind smile.

"No way!" Amu shouted. "We need to get to Flare! Let us through!" The demon in front of them lowered the smile, turning into a slight frown.

"So, I guess you'll do things the hard way. Kaede?"

"On it, Tanya. Itego!" The dark red book in Kaede's hands started to glow brightly. Dark figures started to come from Tanya and straight towards the others, but they were kind of slow.

"No problem." Lucas smirked. "Bogushield!"

Rakete made a large shield in front of everyone, but when the figures reached it, they did not attack it. No, instead, they went right through it.

"N-no way!" Rakete said in disbelief. The shield wore off, and a Boguru spell was fired at Tanya.

"What?" She asked before the invisible wind hit her, sending her flying back. "Grr. That was uncalled for. But the shadows will scare you." Tanya smiled sweetly.

"Maybe even to death."

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Flare…" Alex started, staring at the back of the demon in front of him.

"What is it? I'm doing something important right now."

"…It's about Koto. She's losing to two of the girls from their group." Flare turned around swiftly.

"What?! Where are the others?!"

"They escaped through the wall we went through moments ago. But Tanya is there to keep them occupied."

"Tanya, eh? Well…She'll definitely take out one of them. There's no possible way for them all to make it out with their books still intact."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Go away!" Amu shouted to the creatures, but turned around seconds after. "Misaki! They aren't listening to me!"

"Moonzakare!" Misaki said suddenly, and luckily, Amu turned around quickly and the beam from her mouth headed for the shadows. A large shield suddenly protected them, and they continued to lazily float to their destination.

"Julie! Stand back!" Leon shouted. "I'll protect you."

"Protect us all, first!" Vivi shouted, haven woken up moments before.

Pretty soon, the shadows were in front of them, and the group was backed into a wall, scared for their lives. Well, Lucas dragged Rakete away, and the shadows paid them no mind.

"Go, shadows!" Tanya yelled.

The shadows slowly started to reach their ghostly hands out, and their beings passed through each of them. When everyone had been passed through, the group glowed a grey color for a second, before standing completely still, the shadows disappearing.

"H-hey…" Lucas asked, staring at the group. "What did you do?"

"They are now in a trance. Witnessing every horror story I've ever read or heard. And I've seen a lot. When they're done, they'll be scared out of their minds! Speaking of which, why aren't _you _in a trance with them? Kaede!"

"Raitego!"

This time, white pale ghostly figures came out. They moved much quicker than the shadows, and sped towards Lucas and Rakete.

"Bo-"

"Gyahh!" Rakete interrupted as one of the ghosts attacked him.

_They…they can hurt us now? _Lucas thought frantically. He didn't have time to react when another ghost appeared and somehow kicked him with his invisible leg. The teen dropped the book as he hit the wall, and scrambled to grab it.

"Nope! You aren't getting out of here with that book!" Kaede suddenly shouted, and another ghost appeared and stomped on the book, and it immediately burst into flames.

"No!" Lucas shouted, getting up and running towards the book. "Go out, go out…" He pleaded silently, frantically whacking the book. "No, no! Rakete is going to disappear, and it's all my fault…"

"I'm not going down without a fight, Lucas!" The demon suddenly shouted, getting up. He tried to punch one of the ghosts, but his hand went through them and the ghosts hit back, striking him hard.

"…Ra-Rakete…" Lucas whispered, then squeezed his eyes shut, willing the tears to go away. "I…won't let you down! Your book is still here! We can still cast spells! We couldn't fight Flare…but we will defeat this demon! To save the others from their nightmares!"

"Ra-Rakete?!" Claire shouted in shock, just now running into the room.

"No! We have to help them!" Natsumi screeched.

"No, go help the others!" Lucas turned to them. "This…is _our _fight now. Boguru Uruku!" Rakete quickly got up and ran towards Tanya at an amazing speed. He reached out for her, and lightly tapped her arm, which created a mark, and quickly sped off.

Lucas made the light green book glow brighter, and the mark exploded, sending Tanya back screaming.

"Go for the bookkeeper, Rakete!"

"Right!" And the demon quickly sped towards the human, but instead of placing the mark on her, he placed it on what she was holding: Tanya's book.

"Now, explode!" Lucas shouted, and the book was thrown off of Kaede's hands and on the floor, burning as well.

"D-darn it…" Tanya muttered.

"Boguru!" The invisible wind exploded on contact with the burning book, and the book was gone the moment the smoke cleared, and so was the demon who was tied to it.

"Rakete…" Claire whispered, holding back a tear. _Darn it!_ She thought. _I always thought Rakete was…invincible, with that armor of his. I wouldn't be surprised if he became ruler! But in the end…he didn't make it…_

"Ah, Misakiiii!" Amu cried, burying her face in the human's pant leg. "That was really scary! With all those monsters, and- ahhhhh!"

Soren stood completely still, before letting out an earsplitting scream, causing everyone to cover their ears. After about half a minute, she stopped, and sniffled.

"…I feel better now."

"Oh, yeah?" Natsumi yelled, turning to the demon. "Rakete's book is burning! Do you still feel better?"

"…"

And she screamed again.

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**A/N: Today's chapter is done! (:**

**And if I had to guess, there is about…five or so chapters left in this arc. Perhaps more. (:**


	17. Machine Completed: Maxwell and Yukiro

"I…couldn't protect your book." Lucas said sadly, his head hanging down. The book was currently on the floor, half of it already gone. He didn't want to bring his head up; the teen couldn't stand to see the sight of Rakete's transparent person.

"It's…okay. Really, it is. Just promise me something."

"If it's something like 'take Flare down for me', then you already know we're going to do that." Soren said, finally calmed down. Rakete laughed.

"Ah, yeah. Even though I couldn't become ruler…well, I don't know what I could've done to make Makai into a better world. It all seems fine to me. I'm just glad that I took out someone who was sure to make it a living hell for all of us."

"But if Flare becomes ruler, she'll do worse than that Tanya person!" Amu cried.

"Yeah. Too bad I couldn't go up against Flare…" he sighed. "She's really strong. With me and Luna gone, how will you guys ever make it?" The armored demon chuckled.

"This isn't funny!" Jhouru shouted. "When I become ruler, I'll lock Flare and her minions away forever! And when the next battle for king comes along, I'll make sure that only there are only good ones that can participate!"

"With you ruler, you'll probably let all the bad guys loose." Claire muttered. Jhouru didn't hear her, but Natsumi frowned a bit.

Rakete lowered his head and closed his eyes, then opened them again, staring at the flames surrounding his light green book, which was now almost completely gone.

"We'll…see each other again, right?" Petal suddenly asked the demon, who looked up. Rakete seemed surprised.

"Sure. When you return, come look for me. But you better not return before defeating Flare."

"Don't worry," the other girl smiled. "I won't."

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Tanya's book was burned, eh?" Flare muttered to herself, staring at what was in front of her. "Not a problem. One of them was sent back as well. It's not enough, but it's something. But with this," Her hands wrapped around a cold metal object.

"I can take them all down."

"Uh, Flare?" Mitao asked, entering the room.

"What is it?"

"It's…still a prototype. We have most of the bugs fixed, but it's still uncertain whether it will fire each time or not, and every time it does work, it has to recharge for five minutes. We still haven't figured out a way for it to recharge faster."

"It works, right?"

"Yes, but only some of the-"

"That's all I need to know." The demon smirked, and cradled the machine in her arms.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The group was running yet another flight of stairs. Lucas decided to stay in the previous room, hanging around the ashes of Rakete's book. Mike disappeared a while back, no one really noticed he was gone, anyway.

"Is Flare in this next room?" Dinemo asked Leon and Petal.

"No, but there shouldn't be any enemies-"

"Wrong." This voice caused Natsumi to stop dead in her tracks. _This voice…it sounds so…familiar! _She thought. _It can't really be…can it?_

"Attack the wall." Another voice commanded. This time, Claire froze. They were standing in front of the wall. The wall they had to run through in order to get to the next room.

"…Fangirl boy?" The demon asked in disbelief.

"Drakorzem." Suddenly, a dark sphere filled with white lightning passed through the wall and hit them all, causing them to fall back many steps.

"It really is him…" Natsumi whispered. Leon looked at her.

"You know Yukiro and Maxwell?" Both Claire and Natsumi nodded.

"He used to beat me up all the time for no apparent reason!" The human said.

"He just annoys me." The demon said.

"…I'll take care of them." Petal suddenly said.

"Petal…are you sure?" Robin asked, and the demon nodded.

"I have to. Everyone should go off to find Flare. And…if I don't make it back…" She trailed off.

"It's okay. You _will _make it back." Vivi put an assuring hand on her shoulder. "I know it."

"…Thank you. Robin, are you ready?"

"I sure am. Lavenderest!" The petals shot from Petal's hand and through the wall.

"Let's go!" Demi shouted, running up the stairs. The others nodded and followed suit. Robin and Petal remained where they stood for a while, and running through the wall when the two were sure the others were gone. When they reached the top, they were in another room, but this time, it was square. There, in the middle of the room, stood two figures.

The older one had black messy hair and brown eyes. He wore a military colored polo shirt with a white shirt underneath. On his hands were military colored cuffs with black fingerless gloves. The teen also wore black shorts with black brown boots, black socks visible.

The younger one had tan skin and wore a long sleeve black top with a polo collar flipped up with white rims also on the bottoms of his sleeves and shirt. He wore black shorts and black boots with white socks. His messy hair was white with black neko ears to the sides, and his eyes were also black.

"…Shall we fight?"

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"With this machine…I'll definitely become ruler of Makai!" Flare smiled evilly. "Oh, how long you did take. But you're here now, and that's all that matters." Mitao sighed internally.

_That thing won't talk back to you, Flare…_ The blond thought. She didn't say it out loud, however. Instead, she stared at the metal object.

It was coated in silver, and had a shine to it that would make it noticeable even with little light. It was shaped like a cylinder, with a point on the top. Really, it wasn't at all that big. But it was deadly for any demon book.

"And now," Flare cooed. "All I have to do is wait for those annoying pests to arrive. Once they do, I'll introduce you. How shocked they will be. They thought I couldn't do it. And yet, here you are…

"My machine."

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**A/N:…The machine is complete! No!**

**And the vs. will be next chapter. I thought I'd add it in, but you'll have to wait. (:**

**Also, I would have updated yesterday, but there was an error or something that wouldn't let me log in. D: This still counts as today's chapter, though. xD**


	18. Streak: Maxwell vs Petal and Claire

"Lavenderest!" Robin shouted, and the petals shot from Petal's hand, towards Maxwell and Yukiro. They were larger, and much faster than when she first used them.

"Drako Ozome." Yukiro said calmly.

Maxwell raised his hand and started to absorb the petals into it. He staggered back a little, however, and had trouble keeping his hand up. Pretty soon, he was knocked back.

'How?' He asked. His mouth wasn't moving, yet somehow they could all understand what he said. 'That was your weakest spell, wasn't it? How could I not absorb it?'

"I'm…not sure." Petal then lowered her hand. "Why is it that my spell seems more powerful than usual?"

"Drakorzem." The attack shot at them again, but this time, it didn't catch the two girls off guard.

"CherryBloShield!" A cherry blossom bud appeared in front of the two, and as the Drakorzem attack grew closer, the bud started to open up and shield them. The shield didn't move at all; it seemed to be a good counter to Maxwell's attack. Pretty soon, both spells subsided, and Robin was the first to chant another spell.

"Butterufle!" A buttercup appeared in the middle of the room, and its petals shot a beam at enemies.

"Burango." Bat-like wings appeared on Maxwell's back, and he used them to fly out of the way of the oncoming attack. The demon landed, and looked at his bookkeeper, waiting for a spell. "Drako Sorudo."

A sword appeared in Maxwell's hand, and used slashed it sideways, sending out a dark disc.

"Kai Sorudo!" A voice suddenly cried, and a lighter disc was thrown, counteracting the dark one. They both crashed, sending smoke everywhere. When it cleared, Petal and Robin turned to see Claire and Natsumi.

"What are you doing?" Robin asked them. "I thought you were going to help the others!"

"We were," Claire answered. "But these are our enemies. We won't just abandon you two! Plus," She turned and glared at Maxwell's book. "I'm the only one who will burn that book. Natsumi!"

"Right!" Claire's book shined a blinding color, causing everyone to shield their eyes. "You two might want to shield yourselves!" Natsumi said, turning to Robin and Petal. "This attack might hit you guys, so be careful!"

"Okay. IrisShield!" A stronger version of the CherryBloShield spell appeared before them.

"Dioga Ringo Kaichiro!" A giant solar ring appeared in front of the four, and large versions of the Kaichiro spell began to shoot out of it. They were fast, and large. There was no way Maxwell and Yukiro could dodge it…is there?

"Gah!" Petal cried as a Kaichiro spell attacked their shield. The shield held up, however. Petal and Maxwell were on opposite sides of the room, and Claire was on the side, on Petal's right and Maxwell's left.

"Dioga DrakoMezoraisu." Yukiro said calmly, not phased at all by Claire's strongest spell. Maxwell raised both of his hands up, and many Drakorzems rained down from the sky. Many Kaichiros and Drakorzems clashed with each other, until only one Drakorzem and one Kaichiro was left, heading straight for each other's books, and the two bookkeepers didn't have any heart energy left to stop it.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Okay, we're almost at the top…" Leon said. Everyone was climbing yet another staircase, but this time, Amu was beginning to tire out.

"How many more staircases are there?!" She complained.

"Not much," Julie answered. "This is the second to last one."

"You mean there's one more staircase after this?" Jhouru asked in shock. Soren nodded her head.

"I guess."

"Too bad you aren't going to get to the next staircase!" A familiar voice said.

"That's right. Your little adventure in this castle stops here!"

"…More enemies?" CJ asked. Vincent clutched his hair.

"Oh, come ON!"

"Don't worry!" All of a sudden, Comet sprang out of nowhere.

"…What the heck?" Chikushou stared at the staff. "Why are you here? Wasn't Luna's book burned?"

"Yes, it was." Comet scoffed. "But, before she disappered, Mike chanted a spell that would make me stay here, in the human world, even without Luna's book! I can still return to Makai whenever I want. Oh, and remember Luna's dragon?"

"Yeah, I remember." Riley piped up. "The dragon that released Rakete, Chikushou and I when we were trapped in the wall." Comet smiled at him.

"Yep!"

"What did that dragon do?" Soren asked. "It didn't heal us, or anything…"

"No, it didn't. Let me explain." Comet started to glow, and the staircase started to turn gray, along with the walls and ceiling. They arrived at the fourth room they went into, the room where Luna fought Claire. The color scheme was still black and white, however. They looked in front of them. There was a giant scorch mark in the middle of the room, where Flare's phoenix struck Luna's position, for she already returned before the phoenix had the chance to attack her.

"We're in the fourth room." Comet spoke. "The first room was where you guys broke though the ceiling, the second was the fake door room, where you had to get through the invisible door on the floor, the third room was the light staircase, and the fourth room is here!"

"But…" Jhouru stopped her, confused. "_Why _are we here?"

"Because, I'm going to explain Luna's dragon. Look above you." They did, and there were sparkles covering the entire ceiling. "Streak, the dragon, disappeared up there, when Luna vanished. Streak passed through each of you, correct?" They all nodded their heads. "Well, that dragon didn't heal you, as that blue haired girl pointed out."

"Hey, I have a name, you know!" Soren frowned.

"Honestly, I don't care. I'm not going to be here very long, anyway. So, back to Streak. Streak passed through each of you. Well, it didn't affect you at all. No, it affected your books."

"Our books?" Amu repeated.

"Yes, your books. Your spells have became stronger, much stronger than it usually is. That's why, back in Makai, Luna is known as the demon of wishes. She talks to Streak, sends him off, and Streak grants her wishes! Isn't that amazing?"

"…Kind of, I guess."

"Not really." Soren muttered.

"What are you talking about, brat?!" Comet screeched. "That's an amazing spell! Say it!"

"That's an amazing spell…?"

"Not good enough, but we don't have much time left. Her wish was to make each of your spells stronger, so that you can defeat Flare and her minions more easier. There is also an extra bonus, but I'll leave that for you to figure out."

"Wait, if she can just wish it, why not wish for Flare's book to automatically burn, or to make her become ruler?" Jhouru asked.

"Because!" Comet shouted. "The current ruler knew her ability, so he limited the wishes she can create, and only made it as her last resort spell!"

"Okay, okay…" Soren gave up. "No more yelling please."

"All right. I'll return you to the staircase you were in. Judging by the voice that spoke, I'd guess it was Hori."

"Hori? That guy we fought before we came here?"

"Eh, sure. I didn't know you fought him yet. So, you should know some of his spells, right? Go out there and beat him!" The room regained color, and they returned to the staircase.

"I was wondering where you guys were," Meida sighed. "Can we fight now?"

"Lets." Riley smirked, opening the light blue book. _I know we can defeat him, with Luna's added strength…_

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Too bad the book's burning…" a voice sighed, staring at the flames before them. "NOT! Ahah! You should really get an ally next time, fangirl boy."

"Thanks, you guys." Natsumi smiled, shaking Robin's hand. "If you hadn't shielded us at the last second, Claire would have been gone!"

"That's what friends do, right?" Petal patted Claire's back. "Besides, I can't let you face the wrath of Rakete if you returned home before burning Flare's book, could I?"

"If you didn't shield us, I would have killed you when you returned." Claire said jokingly, and the two laughed, Petal not really realizing Claire's gun.

'…That wasn't a fair fight…' Maxwell suddenly thought. Claire stomped on his book, making half of it crumble.

"Sure it was! I had allies, you didn't! What's not fair about that?"

'You-' Natsumi stomped on the rest of the book before the demon boy could finish his sentence, and he disappeared.

"I have a bodyguard now, Yukiro." She smirked before walking off with her three friends.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**A/N: The chapter would have been too short if I didn't add the Luna thing in...But oh well. I had to explain it sooner or later. x3**

**So...The next chapter will be out the day after tomorrow or so. Because I'm using tomorrow to update my other story. -Shifty eyes-**

**But it's still a fast update, isn't it? D:**


	19. The Hidden Trap in a Trap

**A/N: Sorry if this chapter isn't good…**

**Think of this as a 'filler' chapter, so I can use this to make a more understandable plot.**

**I think this chapter is just plain cheesy, in general. Dx I'll fix some errors when I get the time…**

**And…I think I gave Hori an accidental crush. Oo I didn't mean to, really! -Runs away-**

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"…We can face Hori," Amu said. "You guys need to defeat Flare, don't let us bring you down."

"Oh, really?" Media let a smirk creep on her face. "Nekoru!"

"Shiar!" The purple flames were easily reflected, and it also helped that they were still in the stairway. Once the flames died off, everyone made a mad dash for the wall on the other side of Hori.

"Not so fast!" Hori shouted. "Meida!"

"Nekoruga!" a beam of purple flame shot out of the demon's hands and headed straight towards the group. Some slowed down and let the beam pass right in front of them, and others sped up so the beam would barely scorch their backs.

"Hey!" Amu screeched, getting Hori's attention.

"Shaiteru!" Hori suddenly couldn't move his body, and his eyes trailed over to Amu, who was in the exact same pose he was in. She raised her left arm and pointed a finger at Meida. Hori simply stayed in the same pose as before.

"I have no time for this!" Meida yelled. "Hori, even if you can't move, we're still going to attack. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Teonekoru!"

Nothing happened for a second, and then an explosion appeared in front of Hori's face, and he was sent flying backwards, finally able to move again.

"W-wait!" he shouted, clutching his right arm, which he had landed on. "I don't think Flare's listening anymore. Listen, I don't want to fight you."

"Liar!" Amu accused. "If you didn't want to fight me, then why did you attack?"

"It was for a good reason! Flare was-"

"I don't care what Flare did…" She glared at him, tears starting to form at the corners of her eyes. "Why would you even listen to a monster like that?"

"I'm not listening to her! I'm-"

"Maizakeru." Misaki chanted, cutting Hori off immediately.

A star appeared in front of Amu, and it lazily floated over to Hori, who stared at it. All of a sudden, he felt himself being pulled towards it, and tried to run away, but the star ended up a bit too strong, and shocked him once he made contact with it.

"I'm not trying to fight you…" Hori groaned. "And I can prove it."

"…How?"

"…Meida…Place my book on the floor."

"Huh? Hori, are you-"

"Yes, I'm sure. If this gains her trust…Then fine. Listen, the reason I attacked earlier is because of Flare. What she is planning is pure evil, I know that, and what she plans on doing to Makai isn't much better. I only listened to her so that my book will remain in this competition, and I can strike when her guard is completely down."

"Are…are you serious?" Amu asked, her tears vanishing. Hori smiled a reassuring smile and nodded his head.

"Yes…I'm serious."

_Hori…?_ Meida thought to herself._ You don't usually act this calm towards anybody, not even me._

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"That was Hori's plan all along…?" Flare stared at the screen before her. There were supposed to be two demons fighting each other to the death, not two demons agreeing to peace. This war wasn't about that. No battle will occur for ruler without bloodshed.

"…You didn't really think that everyone would be on your side, did you?" Mitao asked, choosing her words quite carefully. To her luck, Flare took a deep breath and calmed down a bit.

"No, I knew that…Luna was the first one to become a traitor."

"And followed by Leon. But it looks like Hori was planning this straight from the start, don't you think?" Flare smiled a toothy smile.

"Mitao…" She called in a sickeningly sweet tone. "You do know the rules for the battle, right?"

"Wh-why wouldn't I?"

"I'll show this…'Amu' girl and little Hori here how this game is really supposed to be played."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I guess you aren't lying…" Amu looked down at the ground. "I'm…sorry, for attacking you earlier, Hori. It's just that…" she looked up, the tears returning. "You just seemed like the type of demon to serve under her."

Hori looked at her with soft eyes, something he usually didn't show. "…I guess…" The fierceness in his eyes came back a second later, however. "Wait. Do you feel that?"

"Feel wha-" She was interrupted when the wall suddenly broke, sending pieces of rock everywhere. Meida and Misaki managed to shield their books with their own bodies.

"Someone put up a shield!" Hori's voice shouted over the noise.

"I-I can't!" Another voice answered. "If I open the spell book, then the rocks will burn the book!"

"How?"

"I don't know, friction?"

---

By the time the rocks had stopped flying, there was a giant hole in the wall, and Amu, being the curious girl she was, just had to know what happened and how a gaping hole like that could be created in one blow.

She peeked in until half her eyes were visible if you were looking out from the hole.

"What's that?" The demon raised her arm and over the ledge that was in her way. Hori made his way over to the wall and took a look inside as well.

"I'm…not sure…"

The figure they were staring at was round, from what they could see. It was also red, but they couldn't exactly tell, because there wasn't enough light.

"Whatever it was," Hori started. "That's probably what made the hole that big."

Across the room, the floor slid open, revealing small sharp spikes. If you stepped on them, you wouldn't feel a thing. Placed your hand a hard as you could on it, get a hand with very little scratches. Place your demon book on them, one painless and free ticket back to Makai.

The floor opened silently, and only a narrow section of it opened up. Another rumbling was heard, and this time, Amu could feel it. They soon realized that the wall was coming down on them. The two demon screamed for a bit before jumping out of the way before it came crashing down the rest of the way.

"Great, this place as traps, too? Ugh." Amu groaned.

"But of course."

The rumbling was heard once more, and it took the four beings in the room to register the fact that the wall was indeed moving.

"We're going to get smashed, just like in cartoons!" Amu started crying and wrapped her arms around her bookkeeper's legs and clutched his pants, making sure she wouldn't accidentally let go.

The wall continued to push them across the room, towards the spikes. They tried breaking down the wall with a spell, but neither of them worked. The door leading to the next staircase was also blocked by another wall, which terrified the poor girl even more.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Hori tried to stay in one place, but the wall kept pushing him forward, and as the got closer spikes started to appear out of the wall as well.

"Oh, crap." Meida stared wide-eyed.

---

"It is a VERY good thing that the wall did not push us all the way into the spikes…" Hori panted, laying down on the floor in exhaustion. Amu nodded frantically, and lie down next to him, gasping for breath after all of her screaming.

"Mind if I take that?" Flare's voice suddenly rang out through the room, and she suddenly appeared behind Misaki, grabbed his book, and held it triumphantly in the air.

"My book!" Amu shouted, quickly getting up.

"Firo." The flames rushed out of Flare's palm and started to scorch the bottom of Amu's book.

"My bad." The demon gave a slight chuckle. "That's why you should never let your guard down."

It was then that Meida noticed the rope tied onto Flare's waist. She must've used it to slowly creep her way down without making any noise.

"D-Damn…" Hori muttered silently. "Damn it…Those spikes weren't the real trap, were they…?"

"No, they weren't…That isn't fair! I didn't have to fight against you, yet my book got burned anyway! Literally…" Amu's tears poured out of her eyes.

Hori stood up, and looked at her. "…I'll make sure Flare's book burns."

Amu looked up. "Huh?"

"I promise I'll burn Flare's book. I promise Flare will not become ruler. I promise." He reached his hand out, and her transparent hand grabbed his for about five seconds before she faded away, along with her book.  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**A/N: See what I mean about the 'crush' thing? It wasn't meant to be like that. It was supposed to be a Kolulu type thing, for Hori, even though he isn't the main character of this story. xD**

**...Wow. I make no sense at all. . It's not like Amu asked him to become ruler...Ugh. Again, I'll fix the errors later.**

**If you like it just the way it is, then I'll keep it that way.****...Just tell me what you think. :3**


	20. Flare vs Everyone Part One

**A/N: Here's the next chapter to TNB(That's what I'm going to call it now)…**

**Random person: What's wrong with you?**

**Me: Nothing! Go away! Or…Read the chapter first, and THEN go away!**

**Riley:…She's getting obsessed with crossovers. I think she wants to write one…**

**Me: Shut up! I DO NOT!…Okay, maybe I do. ;-; But I've got two other Zatch Bell story ideas I want typed…Plus, I don't know what I'll crossover with…**

**Now, read….**

**_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"Is that…light?" Soren asked, staring up ahead of her.

"I guess so," Leon said. "That's where Flare is. On the roof of this structure."

"I have a question," Jhouru started. "Flare controls this castle, right? What happens when Flare is defeated? Does the castle stay in place or does it fall to the ground and instantly squish anyone under it?"

"You know…" Julie said. "I honestly don't know." Everyone else fell down anime style, then quickly picked themselves up.

"Only one way to find out…" Riley muttered. "Let's go!"

"Go forth into the light!" Claire suddenly shouted, making everyone jump. Chikushou was the first to ask the question they were all wondering:

"When did you get here?"

"A while back. Maxwell's book has been burned." Robin said, smiling. Petal walked next to her, also smiling.

"Great!" Vincent said. "Now we just have to wait for Amu!"

"We don't have time for that," Petal's smile immediately vanished. "We have to defeat Flare as soon as possible!"

"Fine." Came a chorus of voices, and they ran into the light…

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I was wondering when you guys would show up," Flare smirked, her hands behind her back. "You guys took so long, I thought you'd never showed up! I actually finished a little project of mine I've been working on…" She then took out what she was hiding.

"The machine is complete?" Jhouru asked, shocked. "But how? Wouldn't it take much longer?"

"Wrong. You don't know what I'm capable of." The demon then aimed her machine at Soren's book, and pressed a button.

Instead of a beam coming out of it, smoke came out of the end and into Flare's face.

"Ugh, I guess Mitao was right…" she muttered, wiping the soot off. "There are still a few bugs. Mitao!"

The said demon then came out of nowhere and stood next to Flare.

"Damn, I forgot about her." Soren whispered.

"Take the machine and fix it. I'll handle them." Mitao nodded and took the silver object from her 'boss'' hands and quickly ran off with it before anyone could attack her.

"Foros Mianguruk." Alex suddenly said, and they were all in some sort of a volcano-like battlefield, with lava surrounding them, and they were all standing on rock. Above them was a small blue circle.

_The top of the volcano, _Riley thought.

"She's at an advantage in here!" Leon shouted.

"Lan Fioredo." Lava from below covered Flare's hands, yet she didn't seem to be hurt one bit. The lava then removed itself off of the hands and turned into a lava ball that started to glow.

"Uh oh!" Julie said. "Run!"

The others followed her directions and just barely dodged a beam of lava shooting at them. The lava balls then moved to Flare's shoulders, and continued to fire beams from there.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Loud booms were heard from the room Flare was currently in. Mitao smirked, thinking that the others wouldn't last five minutes in that battlefield. She then turned her head back to the machine that was resting on a table in front of her.

"Now, what am I going to do with you…?" she asked herself out loud.. "You were still supposed to fire a laser, just not as fast as it should be. No, instead, you decided to shoot smoke in Flare's face. Looks like there are more bugs than I originally thought…" The demon sighed out loud. "This is going to be a pain…"

She looked behind her and noticed a set of tools.

Wrenches, screwdrivers, hammers, nails, and other stuff. Mitao sighed again.

_I only wish I actually knew how to work these things…_

She grabbed the hammer and a handful of nails. Mitao placed a nail on a random part of the machine and started to hammer it in, crushing the machine flat in the process.

"Damn it, I just broke it!" She swore loudly.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hori remained on his knees, staring at the ashes of Amu's book.

"She said she would defeat me…" He mumbled. "No, she didn't defeat me…I didn't even defeat her…That was one bad trick, Flare…" The demon sighed and stood up.

"Hori?" Meida asked, confused.

"Come on, Meida. We're going to defeat Flare now. I know you wanted to do this later, but we can snatch her book and burn it while she doesn't notice us."

"She'll suspect us sooner or later. She knows what you said to Amu before she burned her book."

"I know…But we're going to go earlier than planned…" Hori said as he picked himself off of the floor and made it to the wall, which was now open. "Hopefully, she won't suspect one move from us.

"We have the element of surprise on our hands."

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**A/N: Okay, let me tell you one thing…**

**I have a BAD case of Writer's Block right now…I don't know what to type…Any ideas for the next chapter would be GREATLY appreciated…**

**And yes, the part with Mitao was supposed to be funny. If it wasn't, then oh well, I couldn't think of anything better. XD**

**I guess I'll start typing one of those other story ideas I had in my mind now. Try looking for it soon, it'll be in the Zatch Bell section. I don't know what the title will be yet, so…XD**

**See you later!**


	21. Flare vs Everyone Part Two

**A/N: Sorry for not updating in a while…I only updated today because I had an idea for a bonus chapter tomorrow…And for that bonus chapter to make sense, this arc needs to be over…**

**So enjoy the final chapter of the 'Demon of the Sky' arc!**

**...This was written in one day...xD**

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The group continued to dodge the fire attacks from Flare, but when Claire was almost hit by a beam to the face, she glared at the others.

"This isn't getting us anywhere!" she shouted. "We have to attack as well!"

"Kaichiro!" Natsumi chanted, and Claire quickly turned back to Flare, who easily dodged the attack.

"You'd have to do more than that to defeat me!" Flare shouted.

"She's right." Jhouru muttered." Chikushou!"

"Shardar!" The three spikes shot from the demon's hands, and sped towards Flare.

"What a weak spell," she sighed. "I could easily deflect those."

"Shiflaro!" Alex shouted. A shield made of fire appeared before Flare, and the spikes crashed into it, dropping to the ground and disappearing.

"My turn!" Demi shouted. "I will not-Hey, what's this?" She stared at her book, a confused look on her face. "This isn't one of my spells…"

"Let me see!" Vivi said, looking at her own book. "Uh…I can't read it." A beam of fire nearly scorched them both. "But who cares?! Just read it!"

"Uh…Monsi!"

"Monsi?" Riley asked. "Isn't that Luna's spell…?"

Vivi aimed her hands and Flare, and the golden barrage of stars indeed shot out of them.

"What?!" Soren exclaimed. "No way! Is that the other surprise Comet told us about? Who knew a spell could do that?!"

"It was Streak!" Comet shouted, 'jumping' out of nowhere, earning her a whack in the face from Soren. "What was that for?!"

"For jumping out suddenly. So anyway, only Vivi got Luna's spells?"

"Nope. Luna's spells were divided among each of you."

"How is that possible?!"

"Well…There was this one time, when King Gash was still in the competition to become ruler…"

"A thousand years ago?"

"Yep…But I'll tell you the story later. Right now, use Luna's spells to your advantage!"

"Can I keep the spells?"

"NO!"

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Quickly!" Hori shouted to his partner. "If we don't make it in time, then…Well, try not to think about that!"

"I'm trying!" Meida responded. "Do you have a plan once we get there?"

"Other than using all of our spells to burn her book? No." Meida sweat dropped. "But we _can _wait until Alex has no more heart energy. Without that human, Flare is helpless!"

"…Good plan." The girl stared at the demon. "But what about the others?"

"They can protect their own books! Right now, I just want to defeat Flare…For Amu…"

"Someone has a crush?" Meida asked tauntingly, a smirk on her face.

"What?! No!" Hori shouted defensively. "It was a cruel trap! Burning her book while we were off guard…I just want to avenge Amu, is all."

"Fine, then. Whatever you say. But what happened to Amu's bookkeeper?"

"Huh? Take…Misa…Whatever his name was? I don't know, he disappeared after Amu's book turned into ashes."

"So…he could be anywhere in the tower by now?"

"I guess. Come on, we're almost there."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Cosentra!" Vincent shouted one of Luna's spells. CJ, in his human form, raised his hands, as he had seen Luna do while her book was in flames. The large beam shot out of them, and he lowered his arms towards Flare, the beam immediately hitting her, knocking her back. She would have fallen into her own lava if Alex had not closed the book and the scenery returned to normal.

"Firo!" The huge flame emerged from Flare's palm once more, heading for all of them. Claire and Natsumi jumped in front of them all and shouted their 'Luna spell'.

"Wishield!" The shield cracked, but managed to hold. Natsumi sighed, and fell to the floor. "I think that's all the spells I can cast…After all, I did use my most powerful spell against Yukiro, and I didn't rest from then on…"

"Don't worry! We'll handle it!" Demi smiled, and her book started to glow a large light.

"I know what she's planning to do." Vivi said, a smirk on her face. "Whatever you do, do not dodge this attack!"

"Wha…?"

"Finato Cometuga!" Large comets shaped as bunnies started to pour down on them. The group panicked a little, but remembered what Vivi said about not dodging…they trusted her.

However, the comets aimed for Flare first. "I can deflect those!"

"Fliaron Shiorega." A huge flame appeared in front of Flare, holding against the comets. At first, the shield looked as if it were going to break under the heavy damage of the comets, but it managed to hold its own.

The comets on the group's side hit them all, and their injuries from previous fights disappeared instantly. Natsumi managed to stand up again, energy flowing inside of her, and a smirk on her face.

"All right!" she shouted. "I'm ready for anything you might throw at me!"

The comets eventually disappeared, and both Demi and Vivi fell to the ground, barely conscious.

"Okay…that is a move that drains all of our energy…" Demi managed to say.

"Well, then…" Flare's voice called out. "Now that you're healed, you think you've won, right? Wrong! In fact, I think I can burn all of your books in one go, no matter how powerful you are! I don't even need the machine!"

They noticed that the shield the somehow deflected Demi and Vivi's final spell was noticeably larger, and a toothy grin was glued onto Flare's face.

_Something's not right…She's planning something, _Soren thought.

"Good bye, everyone!" Flare laughed maniacally as she threw her arms forward in front of her. The giant shield quickly turned into a giant fireball and headed straight for everyone. Before anyone had a chance to cry out a shield spell, the attack hit them all, blasting them through a wall that was behind them, knocking all but two unconscious.

"Tch." Flare growled, staring at the only two who were awake. "Don't worry. Just hand over your book and I won't hurt your friends. I'll just burn their books without hurting them. So come on, give it."

"Over my dead body!" Soren screeched.

Flare's eye twitched as her smirk quickly grew into a sharp frown. "Fine, then. Have it your way. Alex!"

"Miora Lo Kurizuku." Alex finally chanted calmly, as the fire phoenix formed in front of Flare's palms.

"Ra Koron Serudo!" Riley exclaimed, both Soren's and Flare's books glowing brightly. The others started to wake up.

Seconds later, both phoenixes clashed together, fire vs. wind. Bits of wind passed through the fire, extinguishing parts of Flare's phoenix, but it still held strong. Riley shut his eyes while focusing his heart energy on the book, making it glow brighter than ever. Alex did the same, and one of the two phoenixes pushed the other back until it disappeared, and the triumphant phoenix crashed down onto the team who summoned the losing spell, the book burning up in flames as it did so.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Wake up!" a voice shouted, and the demon felt someone slap her face, and she immediately woke up to see everyone staring at her.

"W-what happened?" Soren asked. "Did we win?"

"I guess so. Flare isn't here, and there's a pile of ash where her book used to be in her bookkeeper's hand." Jhouru explained.

"That was awesome!" Claire jumped up into the air. "Phoenix vs. Phoenix! Wind vs. Fire! The epic battle between good vs. evil!"

"What she said." Petal laughed. Robin smiled, but it quickly turned into a frown when everyone was suddenly jerked downwards, falling onto the floor.

"What's going on?!" Chikushou exclaimed.

"Flare was the source that kept this castle in the sky! Now it's falling!" Petal explained. "If we don't make it out of here, we're going to become pancakes!"

"Mm, pancakes…" Soren smirked as everyone stared at her in disbelief.

_Honestly, at a time like this? _Riley thought.

"Use the spell that you used to make it up here, Soren!" a familiar voice cried. They looked up to see Hori and Meida. "I've seen your phoenix defeat Flare's. You can get us out of here."

Vincent quickly looked at Riley. "But after using his ultimate spell, I don't think he has any energy left to cast another!"

"Ah, yeah…" Riley said sheepishly. "I kinda focused it all on Koron…"

"Koron?" Soren asked, looking at her partner.

"My little nickname for the phoenix. Better than calling it Ra Koron Serudo, right?"

"I guess."

"Who cares about the phoenix's name?!" Hori shouted. "Just try to muster up the energy to cast that flight spell!"

"Fine…" Riley picked himself up and place his hand on the book after flipping to the correct page. The book started to glow, but weakly.

"That's fine, just cast it." Meida said.

"Fliinari!" The wings were much smaller than the first time Riley used the spell, but it was enough to pick everyone up, but there was one drawback…

"Get your elbow out of my face!" Vincent shouted.

"I will, once you get your knee out of my side!" Riley shouted back.

"SHUT UP!" Soren screeched, and the two became silent. "We have to pick up Lucas, Amu, and Misaki! Mike too, if he's still here! And we still have to take Flare's bookkeeper..."

"About Amu…" Hori said silently.

"What about her?…Oh, no. She wasn't…" CJ started, but Hori hung his head low--or tried to, anyway. "Her book was burned…? You burned her book?! Why are we even helping you escape anyway?! You're our enemy!"

"I didn't burn her book!" Hori shouted. "Flare did! It was all part of an evil trap she set up! I told her I was going to defeat Flare! But by the time I got here, your phoenix was already defeating her! Don't pin the blame on me!"

"Quiet, this isn't the time to argue!" Soren growled. She took off in the air and immediately started to head down the numerous flights of stairs.

"Everyone!" Lucas shouted when he saw them. "What happened? Why are they here?" He pointed at Hori and Meida and they both glared at him in response. Soren sighed.

"Long story. Come on, we'll explain everything later! If we don't hurry out of here, we're going to be flattened into pancakes!…Mm…" They all sweat dropped, but Lucas went inside of the wing anyway(with a great bit of difficulty).

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Soren shot out of the roof after Natsumi used a Kaichiro spell to blast a hole through it. They had found Misaki(Who was trying to find a way out of the castle) and Mike(Who was in the exact same room they left him in) a few minutes ago. They were a lot lower than when they first entered, but it was easier for Soren to bring them to the ground. At the moment Soren landed, without warning, Riley ran out of energy and the wings disappeared and everyone fell to the ground, well, except Soren, who was already on the ground. Riley fell unconscious at that point, and now, everyone was having an argument.

"You live closer to him!"

"So? You're stronger than me!"

"No way! I go around carrying a small guinea pig on my shoulders everyday! Tell CJ to do it!"

"No! Nuh-uh! No chance of that happening! Vivi, you do it!"

"Are you kidding me? Aren't boys supposed to carry things for the girls?"

"Only gentlemen! And, as far as you and I are concerned, I am no gentlemen!"

"Then turn into one!"

"Jerk!"

"Guinea boy!"

"Li-"

"SHUT UP!" Soren broke the arguments for the third time that day. "I'll do it, just stop screaming!" She then proceeded to pick up Riley and started to drag him back to their apartment, leaving everyone alone.

---

"Uh…What happened to the castle?" Petal asked five minutes later.

"I don't know, it hit a park or something." Vincent said. "Come on, CJ. Let's go home." CJ turned into his guinea pig form and hopped on Vincent's shoulders.

"Oh, okay, then." Robin smiled, not thinking of the damage the castle could have done…but she remembered a few seconds later, as did everyone else.

"Wait…WHAT?!"

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**'End-of-Arc! Aftermath!'**

Demi: So…What happened at the park?

Robin: Vincent got us all worried for nothing…We couldn't even find the remains of the castle…

Claire: I'll beat him up later for that…

Natsumi: Hey, Luna's spell is gone!

Demi: You're right…

Soren:…Which one of Luna's spells did we have, anyway?

Natsumi: Well, I had the shield.

Chikushou: I had the Comet summoning one…Which proved USELESS! COMET WAS THERE THE WHOLE TIME!

Jhouru: Calm down…

Riley: I had Streak…

Demi: We had the star shooting one…

Vincent: And we had the giant laser beam.

Robin: And lastly, we had the spell that allowed Comet to remain in our world…

Soren: Who had the invincibility spell?

Everyone but Soren:…You know, I'm not sure.

Riley: Wait…What happened to Mitao?

Claire: Who cares? Let's have a party!

Riley: Great!…Wait, what?

Natsumi: Good idea, Claire! C'mon, guys! Let's go to the park!

Soren: Party at the park…? Ah well!

Riley: -Sighs and follows-

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**A/N: In case you're wondering, yes, there will be an 'End-of-Arc! Aftermath!' at the end of every arc.**

**And if you're wondering about Mitao…That will be answered soon…**

**Aha, thanks for reading the first arc!**

**Next chapter: Bonus chapter! What will it be about? Well…It involves Riley, Soren, and the rest of them…Apparently, they forgot about the castle. Also, Mitao returns!**


	22. Bonus Chapter: Happy Birthday!

**A/N: Here's the promised bonus chapter!**

**Today is my friend's birthday! His name also happens to be Riley. XD**

**Enjoy!**

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Wake up!" Soren said excitedly, jumping on Riley, who was on the bed sleeping. "Today's the special day, right? September Fourth! You told me about it a few months ago, now today is finally the day!…What do we do again?"

"Well," Riley started, pushing Soren off him and sitting up. "Everyone has a birthday. Today happens to be mine."

"What do we do on a birthday?"

"We give the person whose birthday it is presents, and sometimes even throw a party."

"Why?"

"Because that's celebrating the day they were born."

"Oh, okay then!" Soren jumped off the bed and ran out of the door, leaving Riley alone in the room.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Today's Riley's birthday?" Demi asked the nine year old, who wildly nodded her head.

"Then…we have to give him a present?" Vivi asked.

"I guess."

"Come on, Vivi. We'll get him a present after the show."

"Okay!"

"By the way," Soren called out. "Come over to the apartment by three! I'm gonna throw a big party for him!"

"Party!" Vivi repeated happily.

---

"Party?" Vincent asked, staring at the poorly made card Soren hurriedly made. "Great, a present as well? Uh…How's a punch in the face sound?"

"What for?!" Soren nearly screamed.

"For thinking I was a girl that one time."

"He didn't know it was you!"

"So?"

"All right, we'll go." CJ said, a smirk on his face. Vincent gave him a look.

"You aren't the one to decide things for me!"

"It might be fun." Petal said, walking out of nowhere.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you were staying with Vincent for the time being. What about you, Robin?" Soren asked.

"I say we go."

"Majority rules, Vincent." Soren smirked before walking out of the house.

---

"Okay, I invited everyone, except…Dinemo! Where is he?" Soren frantically looked around. She spotted the demon sitting on a bench at the park. "Dinemo!" She called out.

Dinemo head this and turned his head. "Oh, it's you."

"What 'oh, it's me'?" Soren asked angrily, but shook it off. "Never mind. Look, today's Riley's birthday!"

"Birthday?"

"Yep! Today is the day that he was born!…Only seventeen years ago. So, we have to celebrate it! Where's your partner?"

"Somewhere." Dinemo shrugged while Soren sweat dropped.

"Okay, then…" She said. "So, at around three, I'm going to host a party for him! A surprise party! Where everyone else brings him presents!"

"Why the heck would I bring your bookkeeper a present? I hardly know the guy!"

"…It's the thought that counts…" Soren started to tear up, and Dinemo groaned.

"Fine, I'll come." Soren's face lit up. "But I'm not bringing a present."

"That's fine! Be sure to tell the holder of your book!" Soren shouted happily and skipped off, leaving Dinemo alone.

"Weird girl…" He muttered. "What's so special about a birthday?"

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Okay, I'm cramped." Vincent's voice was heard.

"Shut it! This is a special day for Riley!" Demi's voice said.

"Well, he didn't sound too excited about it…" Soren's voice sheepishly admitted.

"Too bad. We're here, and he will be happy. If not, I'll beat the happiness out of him." Dinemo's voice growled.

"No fighting today! Hopefully a demon won't come and attack us either, so be quiet! He'll be here any second."

As if on cue, the sound of a doorknob turning was heard, and Soren reached for the lights. The door opened, and the lights turned on.

"Surprise!" Everyone shouted.

"Oh, surprise for me? How wonderful." a familiar voice said, but it wasn't Riley's. "I thought you'd be here. After all, we didn't settle that fight, now did we…?"

"You!" Lucas pointed at the person. "How did you survive the castle, and how did you know we were here?"

"That's for me to know and for you to never find out. Anyway, with all you demons here, there's no way I could possibly win, right?"

"Right…" Soren breathed.

"Wrong! It's very possible for me to win. That small room doesn't seem very comfortable, now does it? And, I have this huge hallway all to myself!"

"That won't make a difference, Mitao!" Vivi shouted. Mitao smirked.

"It won't?" She pulled out the knife she had in the castle. "Sure, the machine broke when I smashed it with a…uh…ham…hammi…"

"Hammer…?" Julie corrected.

"Yeah, that thing!"

"Fokai!" Vincent shouted suddenly. CJ quickly turned into a guinea pig and fired the lightning bolts from his back.

"Ruodo!" Kara's voice shouted, and an umbrella appeared in Mitao's hand, and she used it to defend herself.

"You'll have to do more than that to defeat me." Mitao sneered.

"Kaichiro!" The beam broke through the umbrella and sent Mitao flying into the wall.

"Retuyo!" The gloves on Mitao's hands turned into knives, and she put a wicked toothy grin on her face.

"I'm sure you can't dodge this…"

"Kai Sorudo!" The sword appeared in Claire's hand, and she used it to defend herself and everyone from the knives, but unfortunately, she could only defend them from one.

"Gigas Fokugar!" CJ turned into a human, and grew armor. He grabbed the other one of Mitao's knifes, picked her up, and hurriedly ran to the window where he threw her out.

"Uh…" Soren started. "You do know she could be killed by the fall, right?"

"So?"

"…Good point."

---

Kara had left after CJ threw Mitao out the window of the fifth floor of the apartment, meaning everything was okay. Until…

"Whoa…What happened to my room?" Riley asked upon entering. Sure enough, there were scorch marks where CJ's lightning had hit, and a giant hole where Mitao was blasted through.

"Uh… Surprise?"

"Happy Birthday!" Soren shouted happily.

"Thanks…But why is my room a mess?"

"Long story short, Mitao came along, we fought, CJ threw her out the window. Now open your presents, and let's party." Dinemo said. Riley sweat dropped.

"You know, you didn't have to give me presents…" Riley said nervously.

"What's a birthday without presents?" Demi asked. "Now open them."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Bye everyone!" Soren shouted, waving frantically at the people who were leaving. When they were gone, she turned back to Riley. "That was a fun party, wasn't it?"

"I guess." Riley wore a sweater that Demi and Vivi bought for him("Wear it now! We looked hard to find something decent!"), and he painfully held his arm where Vincent had punched him("It's better than the face, right?").

"They're all so kind. Except Dinemo."

"Yeah."

"So…When does your birthday end?"

"Midnight."

"And that is…?"

"Twelve."

"Oh, okay." She looked at the clock. "It's seven. Who knew we could entertain them for four hours in this little place?" Riley laughed.

"Actually, Soren…I think it was you who entertained them."

"What makes you think that?"

---

"Yeah…Jhouru was pretty mad…" Soren sighed.

"And let's not forget-"

"No, that one moment was enough for me." Riley laughed.

"C'mon, let's go to bed."

"At seven?"

"When do you want to sleep?"

"…I don't know…There's nothing to do, anyway…Okay, let's go to bed."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

**A/N: There! (:**

**And yes, Mitao is still alive…just a broken arm, is all…Nothing too serious…**

**Next Chapter: An ecounter with a time demon...sends them back a thousand years ago! Now what? What will happen when they meet Gash, while he was still in the battle to be king?!**

**And yes, I'll only do 'Next Chapter:' things when I know for sure what I'm going to type the next chapter about…**

**Also, this chapter was longer than I thought...I thought it was less than a thousand words, but it's nearly two thousand...**

**Wow, my chapters are short. xD**


	23. In the Past? But why?

**A/N: This will start the second arc…I will update the last chapter, because this chapter does not involve the remains of the castle, sorry!**

**Also, in my profile, I updated it with all the couples I support, am okay with, and hate in this series, along with two Pokemon ones. So check that out if you're interested.**

**Enjoy!**

**_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"Ah-choo!" a girl sneezed, her hair un-tying itself, previously in a bun. She blinked her blue eyes once, and pivoted on her purple sandals to face the teenager next to her.

"Sean," she started. "I think they're nearby…And I can sense other demons with them too."

"Really?" The boy, Sean, asked. "I guess we should hurry, then. Won't she be surprised to see us, Suzu?" He locked his light blue eyes on the demon. Suzu smiled.

"Yeah, she will! I wonder who's with her, though…"

"Anyone strong?"

"No, not really. They hold about medium level power, but that's as high as it goes. All of them combined would probably equal to about a Dioga class spell."

"Seems interesting, anyhow. So, what do you say about visiting Robin a visit?"

"Sounds fine to me!" Suzu squealed.

_____________________________________________

"_Wahhhh!" cried a little blonde boy, clutching a toy to his chest tightly. "You can't take Vulcan away from me! He's my _friend!_"_

"_Either you stay home, or I take away that box." Growled an annoyed teenager._

"_Noooo! He's more than just a box! He's my-"_

"_Gash!" a female's voice said happily._

"_Hey, look." The teen said, now smiling. "Tio's here. Play with her, and don't even think about following me." He casually left the house after that, leaving 'Gash' and 'Tio' alone._

"_Kiyomaro's so mean…" Gash muttered._

"_Ehe, that's like him." Tio giggled. "C'mon! I brought Volunlun!"_

"_Really? Well, that makes everything better! I'll win the game for sure this time!"_

"_I beat you in every single round ever since we first started playing! What makes you think you'll win this time?"_

"_Me and Vulcan have been practicing." Gash said with a smirk._

"_Practicing won't help you against me, Gash Bell!"_

______________________________________

"Well, what do you know?" a voice said, stopping Suzu and Sean in their tracks. The two turned around to find a ghostly pale young boy with frenzied blue hair and blood red eyes that pierced through them. Odd markings covered most of his body, and he wore a ragged white shirt with a clock on it, white ripped pants, and black boots that didn't match with everything else.

Standing next to him was an adult in about his mid-thirties, with sleek black hair and chocolate brown eyes. He wore a white shirt with a grey tie and a thin blue sweater over it. He also wore matching blue pants and nice black dress shoes.

"Sean!" Suzu cried. "A demon!"

"Duh." the demon smirked. "My name is Verado. This is my human partner, John."

"John?" Sean asked, blinking. "I thought we were in Japan."

"…He's American, okay?" Verado growled.

"Never mind that! Sean, a spell!"

"Oprei!" Sean chanted, a blue topaz book shining brightly. Suzu thrust her arm out, and a large opal emerged, heading straight towards Verado.

"Not much of a challenge, eh John?"

"Foreetie!" John shouted, a pure white spell book glowing. Verado lazily placed his hand in front of the opal, and a strange grey-white haze came out of it, completely covering the opal, and its speed started to slow tremendously.

"W-what?!" Suzu cried, shocked. Verado smirked, while John cast another spell.

"Tiekoruku!" Verado started to glow blue, and in a second, he was gone, and right in front of Suzu.

"Ah! Sean!" Suzu exclaimed, surprised.

"Emeso-"

"Lavenderest!" someone shouted before he could finish, and many lavender petals quickly headed for Verado, but he merely disappeared and re-appeared back in his original spot, and the glowing faded.

"Kaichiro!" a female voice shouted, and a white solar beam headed for Verado, who didn't expect another attack, and he was sent back. Before he could get up, yet another spell was cast.

"Shardar!" This time a male's voice shouted. Three spikes headed for Verado, and because he was still stunned by the solar beam, couldn't find the energy to get up, and allowed the spikes to pin him to the ground.

"Wingfor!" a gust of wind headed straight for the poor demon, and the spikes were destroyed, yet Verado was sent flying back and smacked into a tree.

Suzu and Sean looked up from their positions, and noticed fourteen figures they didn't know, but there were two more with them, and they looked like…

"Robin!" Sean shouted.

"…Sean…?" Robin stared at the blonde, an awestruck look on her face. "No way…You can't…I mean…huh?"

"You know him?" Vincent asked.

"Y-yes…We used to play together when we were little…But then he met Suzu and we drifted apart…"

"I'm guessing Suzu's the demon?" Dinemo asked. Robin could only nod.

"Darn it…" Verado swore, slowly getting up. All attention was turned towards him. "John…Cast the ultimate spell…"

"Are you sure? I mean-"

"Yes, I'm sure! It's TWO verses EIGHTEEN! I HATE THESE ODDS!" Verado screamed at John, causing said human to recoil. The demon calmed down a little bit, and lowered his voice. "Just cast it."

"O-okay…" John stuttered, not wanting to face his demon's awesome wrath ever again. "Tiorendo Mibakorudo!"

Verado started to glow gold, and a large beam shot out of him, completely covering all eighteen. The trees and grass around them turned golden and wavy, and pretty soon, everything was blurry, and the only thing they could see clearly was each other.

"What's going on?!" Soren shouted.

"Hahaha…" Verado's voice laughed, ending in an echo. "This is my ultimate spell…Tell me…How are you going to compete for the battle to be ruler if you aren't even in the right battle?"

"The right battle?" Leon asked, confused. "We're in the current battle, aren't we?"

"Not for long…"

---

"Ahh!" Gash screamed. "You beat me!…Again…"

"Told you, Gash!" Tio smirked. "Volunlun and I are an unbeatable duo-" She was cut off when a loud crash was heard from outside. The two children scurried to the window, where they noticed many children and teenagers sprawled out on the ground outside, all unconscious.

"Uh…Who are they?" Gash asked.

"How should I know?! But we should go check on them, make sure they're okay." With that, the two scurried outside.

---

"Uh…Where am I…?" Soren asked, keeping her eyes closed. She noticed that she was lying on something soft, and cushiony. She slowly opened both eyes and saw that she was on a bed. The demon also noticed a lightning blonde boy and a pink-haired girl staring at her.

"Oh, so you're awake!" The blonde said.

"Who're you?" Soren asked him. _He kind of looks like King Gash…But he can't be, can he?_

"I'm Gash Bell!" He said happily.

"I'm Tio! Who're you?" Said the girl named Tio.

"I'm…Soren…" Soren started, but the realized something. "Where are the others?"

"Don't worry, we took care of all of them." Tio said. "Some are in the living room, while the others are crowded in the guest room."

"I hope Kiyomaro doesn't get mad…" Gash shivered. "By the way, are you all demons?"

"Eh?"

"Well, we kind of noticed your books…Kind of hard not to notice, really…" Tio explained.

"Quick, tell me!" Soren shouted suddenly, jumping off the bed. "What year is this!?"

"2005...Why?"

"Oh…my…God."

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**A/N: Mwahaha! Thus begins the second arc! :D**


	24. Attack! The Bright Demon, Neon?

**A/N: ****I finally published my first crossover story! ****8D It's a multi-cross!**

…**I need reviews on it, though. ;-;**

**In case you're wondering, the series in the multi-cross are: Tokyo Mew Mew, Full Metal Alchemist, Pokemon, Sailor Moon, and Zatch Bell.**

**So, read it if you're interested. Or, just skim through it to see if you like it or not. x D**

**_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"What's with that look on your face?" Gash asked, tilting his head to the side. Soren's face was a mixture of disbelief and awe.

"You look…troubled." Tio stated.

"You don't get it." Soren said slowly, her voice low. "I…I don't belong here. This isn't my battle."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…I come from the next battle, but I was sent to the previous battle, which is this one, by a time controlling demon. I have to get back as soon as possible!"

"Your story is kinda hard to believe." said a scratchy voice coming from behind the door. It opened, and it revealed to be a small boy with orange hair, wearing full body pajama-like clothes, and where his mouth should have been, there was a bill.

"Kyanchome!" Gash growled, getting into a fighting stance.

"H-hey! This isn't time for a rematch, Gash!" Kyanchome stammered, taking a step back. "I just wanted to visit you, is all! Besides, Folgore is being crushed by a fan girl mob, and…and…" He lowered his voice. "I'm all alone…"

"Fine." Tio reluctantly said, crossing her arms. "We'll keep you company, but don't expect us to play with you."

"K-Kyanchome…?" Soren asked, pointing a shaking finger at the said demon child. "_The _Kyanchome?"

"H-how do you know my name?!" he screeched, but was whacked upside the head by Tio.

"Well, for one, Gash said it out loud. And second, she's from the _future_, remember? She's bound to know who you are."

"Wait…" Gash whispered. "If…If you're really from a thousand years into the future, who becomes the king of Makai?!"

"That's right!" Kyanchome shouted. "Who?"

"If…If there is a battle a thousand years from now, then that means…that means neither Tio, Kyanchome, Umagon, or I could become ruler…We were planning to stop the battles once and for all…But, I guess we didn't make it after all…" Gash slumped against a wall.

"D-Don't say that, Gash!" Soren shouted, causing Gash plus the other two demons to look up at her. "You were one of the final two! The opponent who burned your book's name was Gakiro! You two fought in an epic battle, and it was very close, but he managed to burn your book and declare himself the king of Makai. If you train harder then ever, you can beat Gakiro! Gakiro won't stand a chance if you train!" Soren lied. There honestly was no 'Gakiro' or whatever. But if Gash lost his spirit, he wouldn't try anymore, thinking he was going to lose anyway. She also couldn't tell him that he really did win; that would cause him to become lazy, and his book really would get burnt, screwing up the time line.

"Really…?" he asked, his eyes dull.

"Of course. Gakiro was a wimp anyway." she lied, but a triumphant smirk was glued onto her face. If Gash believed her smile was real, then he would get his spirit back.

"We'll protect our books harder then ever!" Tio exclaimed. "If us three are up against Gakiro, we'll win for sure!"

"…Why'd you say three? Why didn't you count Umagon?"

"I did count Umagon."

"Then who-"

"Kyanchome doesn't really count, right?"

"Whhhaaaaattttt?!"

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Ugh." Claire moaned. "My head hurts." She slowly got up and realized she was laying on a couch, and an ice pack slid off her forehead.

"Hey, you're awake!" Soren's familiar voice called out, and the said demon ran over to Claire. "How're you feeling?"

"Fine, other then the throbbing pain in my head…" Claire groaned. "Where are we, anyway?" Soren shifted uneasily.

"…You aren't going to believe this."

---

"WHAT?!" Claire screamed, causing Soren to fall back. "We're in the last battle?! How can that be?! Does-Does-…Does this mean I can see King Gash while he was still a participant?"

"See him? He LIVES here!"

"What?!"

"Hey, she's awake!" Gash shouted happily jumping down the stairs. Apparently, Soren had successfully managed to lift his spirits again.

"Don't yell, Gash. She had a nasty bruise on her forehead, don't make her very possible headache worse." Tio sighed, walking after him. Claire stared at the two, not believing her luck, when…

"Would you like some candy?" Kyanchome appeared out of nowhere, causing Claire to be surprised, and whipped out her gun and aimed it at him.

"Claire!" Soren screeched.

"Ahhh!" Kyanchome ducked behind the couch and grabbed the cushion for dear life.

"Oh. It's only Kyanchome…Kyanchome? The candy shop owner! AHAH!" Claire laughed, dropping the gun and rolling onto the floor. "Candy Shop Owner Kyanchome! Haha!"

"H-hey, don't laugh at him…" Gash said uneasily, his eye on the gun that was laying mere inches away from Claire's hand.

"That's right! Kyanchome has the best candy in the universe!" Soren defended. This made Kyanchome peek out of his hiding place.

"In…the universe? My…my own candy shop…? Please don't tell me this is a dream…"

"It's not." Tio sighed, but then a door clicking open was heard, and a call of 'Gash?' rang throughout the house.

"Kyaa!" Gash panicked. "Um, uh…Soren! Other girl! Hide!"

"Why?" Claire asked, picking herself up.

"It's Kiyomaro, my spell caster! If he finds out about everyone, he'll kill me!"

"I thought you said he wouldn't mind."

"I said I _hoped _he wouldn't mind! He has…anger issues; now go hide before he sees you!"

"…Gash?" The teenager walked in with a confused look on his face; he was sure he heard Gash talking to a girl that didn't sound like Tio…

"N-nothing's wrong." Gash smiled, sitting on a quivering couch cushion that hid Claire. Soren hid somewhere in the kitchen; hopefully Kiyomaro wouldn't go in there.

"Why do you sound so nervous?"

"We aren't nervous!" Tio said a little too quickly. "We just, um…We're playing hide-and-seek with Kyanchome!"

"Is he under the cushion Gash is sitting on?"

"What? What would make you think that?"

"It's shaking. Kyanchome is the only person I can think of at the top of my head who would shake like that in a casual game."

"Well, it's not Kyanchome, because he's right here!" Kyanchome shouted, jumping from behind the couch.

"Then what is Gash sitting on?"

"…Bugs?"

"…Why would there be bugs underneath the cushion?"

"Gash let them in…?" Gash glared at Tio, but quickly shut his eyes; wondering what Kiyomaro was going to yell. Instead, he heard deep breaths, and opened an eye, seeing Kiyomaro breathing heavily.

"Okay…" he breathed. "If what you're saying is true…Then…" The human paused, thinking over his choice of words. "Get them out of the house. No, don't free them. Capture them. Then go outside and squish them."

"That's horrible, Kiyomaro!" Gash shouted.

"I…don't…care." He sighed and started to walk off towards his room.

At that same moment, Claire pushed her head out from underneath the cushion, taking in deep breaths. "I don't want to do that again!"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dinemo slowly pushed himself up and looked around the room his was in. He noticed Petal and Suzu were awake, but they didn't speak a word to each other. Jhouru was also awake, staring at the wall. Everyone else, however, remained unconscious.

"Can anyone tell me where we are?" he asked.

"I'd like to know." Jhouru sighed. "I tried talking to them; they wouldn't even look at me."

"I thought that Robin and Sean were enemies, not Petal and Suzu."

"I don't know anything anymore."

"This is the house?" a voice said from outside. Dinemo and Jhouru crept to the window to get a closer look.

"Yep." said a tall demon. He had a blue head with neon pink antennas on the top of it. His stomach was green while his arms were orange. His legs were purple, and he seemed to glow a faint color of black.

"What a weird looking demon." Jhouru said as Dinemo nodded.

"Fioridaru!" said the shorter man, holding a mustard yellow spell book. The neon demon started to glow, and a beam crashed through the front door of the house, allowing anyone to enter.

"Oh no!" Jhouru cried out. "They're attacking this house!"

"We have to help everyone escape." Dinemo said, picking up Vivi.

"Wait!"

"What?"

"Soren and Claire. They aren't here!"

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Claire barely avoided the door swish past her face. She turned and glared at the attacker, and sweat dropped at his appearance.

"My name is Neon." said the demon.

"Of course it is…" Claire whispered so he couldn't hear. Soren had managed to crawl out of the kitchen and stand defensively next to Claire.

"I have come to burn the red spell book that belongs to the demon Gash Bell and his human partner, Takamine Kiyomaro."

"Of course!" Gash shouted. "Who _isn't _after us?!"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**A/N: There's the new chapter. :3 Hope it was okay, I kinda forced myself to write it since there was nothing to do. x D**

**And don't forget to read the multi-cross if you're interested. ^^**


	25. More Demons, and Verado!

**A/N: I was originally going to put this up tomorrow, but I'm bored and have nothing to do, and I'm going to be busy tomorrow.**

…**And, I'm a beta reader! 8D So…If you need a beta reader, just send me a PM…**

**Also, about the crossover: I know you're looking at it. I can see how many viewers view it. . I've had like, 20 viewers and not a single review. D:**

**___________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"Where is your bookkeeper, Gash Bell?' Neon asked, pointing his long finger at the said demon.

"…I don't know." Gash lied.

"Idiot!" Tio screamed, whacking the blonde upside the head. "Would he really fall for that?"

"We can't fight in his house, Tio!"

"But we can't leave, either!"

"Well then-"

"Kaichiro!" Claire suddenly turned towards the enemy and shot a solar beam at him, knocking him out of the house.

"…Who was that?" Kyanchome asked.

"Natsumi!" Claire said happily. "She's my bookkeeper!"

"…She looks like someone I know…" Gash muttered. "But very distinctively…"

"We'll handle that demon!" Natsumi said. "…Gash, was it? Watch the others upstairs!" Gash nodded and did as he was told, followed by Tio, Kyanchome, and Soren.

"…You know," Claire started. "With all this noise, I'm surprised Kiyomaro didn't come downstairs yet."

"…Who's that?"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Is everyone okay?!" Gash shouted, nearly breaking the door open.

"Idiot, they're all unconscious!" Tio said, walking in after them.

"No we're not." Dinemo sighed.

"Hey, aren't you King Ga-"

"Gakiro looks nothing like Gash!" Soren shouted, cutting Jhouru off.

…_Who the hell is 'Gakiro'…?_ Jhouru thought, sweat dropping.

"Anyways, there's a demon named Neon here, and he's trying to burn Gash's book! The mean girl and the orange haired girl saved us and went out to fight them…We need to help, but we don't have any bookkeepers that are currently awake other than Kiyomaro…" Kyanchome sulked.

"Then go get him and fight." Dinemo said, dropping Vivi.

"…Natsumi can handle that guy, right? I mean, Neon seems…weak." Soren sighed.

"His name is _Neon?"_ Jhouru asked in disbelief. "…His name isn't very original, is it…?"

"No…" The group sighed.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"We won't let you step back into that house!" Natsumi shouted. "Kaichiro!"

"You won't get me with the same trick!" Neon smirked.

"Boriyoanshield!" His bookkeeper chanted. Neon waved his arm up, and a colorful shield appeared before him, absorbing the beam and reflecting it back at them.

"Kaispheroshield!" The girl acted fast, and the blue shield surrounded them, but cracked slightly when their own spell collided with it.

"Hn," Neon breathed. "My shield does more then simply reflect." The beam began to grow bigger and more powerful, until Claire's shield was easily pierced through. "I can make your own spell stronger or weaker against you."

"Kaichiro!"

"Are you honestly going to do that again?"

But the attack never came. Instead, a small girl ran up to the demon and socked him in the face, making him stumble back into his bookkeeper.

"Kaichiro!" The beam came this time, and crashed into Neon.

"Heh, faked the first spell, eh?" Neon's bookkeeper said, not a scratch on him. Neon had protected him from Claire's attack.

"Darien, stop screwing around and cast a stronger spell."

"Fine, fine." Darien sighed, and Neon's book began to glow brightly.

"As if! Rauzaruku!" A rainbow passed by Claire's head, and rammed into Darien, who dropped the spell book.

"I've been waiting for you." Neon smirked, as he grabbed the rainbow's front and swung him back to where he came. "Gash Bell. Kiyomaro."

Gash's body enhancement wore off as he crashed into his spell caster, and the two tumbled onto the grass.

"…Sweet, I'm working with the king." Claire smirked as both the human and demon rose.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"You mean…you're ALL from the future?!" Kyanchome shouted.

"Well, they all appeared at the same time, so…" Tio started.

"…I wasn't here for that, remember?"

"And so, Claire uses her solar beam attack to attack Neon, and Gash uses his Zakeruga spell, and--wait, what? Neon used some shield to deflect their attacks back at them! Oh, wait. Claire still has her shield, and-hey! Their attacks just got larger! The shield broke! And…ouch. That looks like it had to hurt. Of course, who wouldn't be hurt after ramming their head into a wall?" Petal announced, looking out the window.

"Who hit their head?" Tio asked, jumping over Jhouru and running over.

"…Gash's bookkeeper. I don't know his name. Anyways, he's getting back up, and casting another spell! It looks like Gash's Zaguruzemu. And…it hits! Neon is glowing. He uses Zakeruga again, and it looks like it'll be a direct hit!…Wait…Oh no."

Everyone made a mad dash towards the window, where they noticed a familiar looking demon…

"Verado." Dinemo breathed. "He's the one who sent us here."

"But how is he in this time? Can he use his spell on himself?"

"Apparently."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"You!" Claire shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the pale demon. "How did you get here?!"

"I'm the demon of time," Verado explained, a large smirk on his face. "Isn't it obvious? Besides…I can't pay my little pets a visit?"

"We aren't your pets!"

"…Who's that?" Gash asked, looking at Verado.

"Oh, hello…King Gash."

"…Eh?!" Kiyomaro shouted, looking back and forth between the time demon to the lightning one. "What do you mean?!"

"…They didn't tell you? Those two," Verado pointed to Claire and Natsumi. "And those kits over there," he pointed to the window, where all conscious people were easily spotted. "--Are from the future."

"Future?" Kiyomaro asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I know. They told me I didn't become ruler…Wait, are you Gakiro?!" Gash asked, a spark in his eye. Claire anime fell, while Natsumi sweat dropped.

"Who the heck is Gakiro?" Verado asked, but shook his head. "Never mind. Gash, they lied. You are the ruler."

"Then…then why is there a battle a thousand years into the future?!"

"It's not your fault, really. When you became ruler, that was the first thing you tried to change. But instead, the law got denied."

"But why? I'm the king, aren't I?!"

"…Gash, just because you're the king, that doesn't mean you can freely do what you want. There are many things you can't change; this battle being one of them."

"No way." Gash sunk to his knees. "So I fought this hard for…nothing?"

"Not for nothing; no. You made positive changes in Makai. It's just that you couldn't achieve your largest goal, is all."

"Shut up!" Claire screamed, getting Verado's attention. "Who cares if Gash couldn't change the battle? He did his best, didn't he?! He banned demons who entered in previous battles to enter again, right? That means no more thousand year old demons; and no Faudo or Clear Note thing!"

"Faudo…?" Kiyomaro asked.

"Who's Clear Note?" Gash asked, getting his curiosity back.

"I'll explain later. But Gash; those were tough times. But you made it through. Us demon children know all about you; there are even textbooks about you! We know all you friends as well: Kyanchome, Umagon, Tio, Kiyomaro, Megumi, Sunbeam, Folgore…Everyone!"

"…You know about the human partners?"

"I said everything, didn't I?…But some children don't pay attention to those books."

"Heh," Verado smirked. "Even if you get him to fight again, he still won't be able to ban the battle!"

"He doesn't have to! I'll make sure that when he does become ruler, he'll check everyone's personalities before letting them in. Only kind and strong-willed demons will be allowed to enter. None like you!"

"What if I fake my way through?"

"Come onnnn…" a female's voice moaned, grabbing everyone's attention. "This is borriiiiinnnngggg. Can't we fight now, nya?"

"Pyuu." Purred a fox-like demon. The only way you could tell it was a demon was it's odd fur colorings and it's eyes. His eyes were a pure golden, and his fur was light blue, with black paws, and the tip of his tail was white.

"See? Kiya's itching for a fight as well, nya." The girl had blonde hair that reached her hips, icy blue eyes, and wore a light blue corset with black lacings. She wore blue boots, and wore a puffy white skirt, and a silver tiara with a sapphire in the middle was on top of her head.

"…Kioru." Verado frowned. "I wasn't expecting you here. But fine. Enough talk. Let's get serious now, and see how well Gash does now that he knows the truth."


	26. Inproper Farewell: Kiya and Kioru

**A/N: Sorry for the late update. Kinda held this off. Anyways, guess what?**

**I have the rest of this story planned out!**

**Yep! I even know who will become ruler. You might be surprised, you might not. I would give you a hint, but you wouldn't know who I'm talking about, and for a very good reason. xD**

**Also, this chapter might seem a little rushed. If it is, then sorry! The ending might be boring, but I actually had fun writing it. .**

**Enjoy!  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"Hm, they don't seem tough." Kioru said calmly, slowly walking over to Verado. "Are you sure they'll last long?"

"Even if they don't, I won't cry." Verado growled.

"Are you also from the future?" Gash called out to the fox, who glared at him.

"Pyuu."

"Eh?"

"Of course." Kioru translated. "If we weren't, how'd you reckon we know Verado, nya?"

"Kaichiro!" Natsumi wasted no more time as her demon sent a solar beam at the enemies.

"Fiorrashirudo." Kioru said calmly, and the beam crashed into an invisible wall in front of them. When the smoke cleared, the shield turned into a dark blue color and faded away.

"Zakeru!"

"Forenzo." Kiya, the fox like demon, jumped in front of the attack. A sound wave emanated from her fur and slightly bent the lightning to reflect back at Gash and Kiyomaro.

"Kaispheroshield!" The blue dome successfully shielded all four heroes from the rebounded lightning.

"Ringda!" a voice called, and a light pink ring appeared out of nowhere, crashing into Verado.

"Who was that?" Kiyomaro asked, looking around.

"I can't let you guys fight him alone!" said Vivi, a triumphant grin on her face. "I'm fighting with you!"

"Vivi, no!" Soren screeched from the window. "They can handle it alone!"

"How many of you are there?" asked Kiyomaro, narrowing his eyes at Gash, who sheepishly grinned.

"We'll explain later. Right now, let's focus on bringing those three down!" Demi ran next to her demon, and flipped to a new page in her spell book. "Ralena!"

"Demi, what--" Vivi was cut off when she started to glow. She turned her head back at Neon and the others. "Never mind. Everyone, protect Demi when this spell wears off, no matter what!" The demon then started to sprint towards her enemies.

"Heh. Over confident? Well then, I won't be missing you!" Damien laughed. "Neorando!"

Neon fired a multi-colored blast at Vivi, but she continued to run, even after being directly hit. She jumped up and before Neon knew it, her fist had collided with his face, sending him back a few feet.

"What the?! Kiorma Inuzadon!" Kioru chanted. Kiya unleashed a giant white beam that fully engulfed Vivi.

Inside the beam, Vivi held her arms out in front of her face, trying to shield it from the countless invisible knifes trying to cut her. She felt a huge relief and knew the spell wore off, and continued to run at full throttle.

"She's invincible like this!" Demi shouted, kneeling on one knee. "No spell can break this!"

"Grr…Fauranruku!" Kiya started to glow a snow white, and she ran at Vivi. The two collided, and they both tried to overpower the other. Eventually, Vivi's glow started to wear off, and Kiya started to overpower her. The pink haired girl was knocked back into her spell caster, and both lay unmoving.

"Demi! Vivi!" Claire shouted, running back to help them.

"Forenzo!" Kioru shouted, her voice starting to sound desperate. The same sound wave from earlier started to speed towards them.

"Rashirudo!" Kiyomaro cried as a last minute defense, but Kiya's spell easily overpowered it as it smashed into pieces.

"Augh!" All six screamed as the attack hit them, knocking them back into the walls of the house. Demi and Vivi remained unconscious, while Claire was struggling to get up with Gash. They were now spell less, as both of their bookkeepers were knocked out as well.

"Aha!" The blonde human laughed. "See, Verado? They can't beat us, nya. Totally powerless, nya!"

"We…can still defeat you!" Gash shouted.

"You think my only means of attack was spells? Well, you're wrong!" Claire smirked as she slowly took out her AK47. Damien's eyes widened.

"You aren't seriously thinking of shooting us, are you?"

"Hehe…Call me crazy if you will." The demon's attitude started to frighten Gash. She aimed her gun at the white-blue book in Kioru's hand. "You're first."

Kioru instinctively clutched the book tighter to her chest. "No way are you burning my book, nya. Kiya, get ready! Forenzo!" The sound wave was noticeably smaller, and Verado took notice.

"Kioru, what are you doing?! You honestly aren't scared of that brat, are you?"

Claire, however, started to fire at it, not even flinching. The bullets seemed to pierce it, but the waves slowly turned them back and fired at the gun user, who shrieked and immediately started to jump back from her own attack.

The waves continued, and knocked the only two who were awake back next to their unconscious spell casters. Gash and Claire immediately rose and started to shield the humans. But because they were just children, they could only protect their own books. Vivi started to come to a bit too late, as the attack was just centimeters away.

"Ahh, Demi! Please wake up!" She pleaded, shaking the girl. The demon flinched when the sound waves collided with her back, and she was sent face first into the wall. Vivi turned and was about to fight without using a spell, but her eyes widened when she saw something moving.

Her book's corner was on fire.

"N-no!" She cried, jumping over Demi and attempting to extinguish the small flame. "I can't leave yet! What's going to happen?! To me? Will I be sent back to the future Makai or the past's? What about Demi!?" Vivi sobbed, and her burned hands fell limp. Trying to smolder the fire had only made it larger.

"Heh," Verado smirked. "I honestly don't know whether you'll be sent back to your own time. But I guess you'll be the first to find out, won't you?"

"I'm not leaving yet! Not before I take one of you three down with me!" Vivi shouted. She got up and started to speed towards them once more.

"Vivi!" Claire screamed. "You aren't using a defensive spell!"

"Who cares!?"

"Er…Fiorrashirudo!" The same invisible shield appeared once more, and Vivi crashed into it, not bothering to hold back her tears. She clawed at it, and the shield eventually died down.

"Cast another spell! Quick!" Verado ordered.

"Neorando!" Neon took aim at Vivi and fired, but she quickly dodged and appeared in front of Damien, who dropped the book in surprise.

"Claire!" Vivi shouted. "Burn this, now!" She grabbed the book and tossed it as high as she could. The blue haired demon scrambled for her weapon and fired at it. In her haste, most of the bullets missed the book, but one lucky one managed to scrape the corner of it, and the book started to burn.

"No way!" Neon shouted. Claire hadn't stopped, however. She continued to fire, and her aim became slightly more accurate, as more and more bullets started to hit the burning book.

Gash glanced at Vivi's own book. Halfway on fire. If Demi didn't wake up soon, then…

Claire threw her gun aside and stomped on Neon's book, now fully engulfed in flames. Neon started to sparkle and turn transparent, and was gone without another word.

Vivi turned her attention to Kioru, but Kiya appeared out of no where and sent her flying back.

"I've had enough of this, nya!" Kioru shouted. "Verado, let's leave! Now, nya!" Verado nodded silently. John casted a spell no one heard, and the four were gone in a bright light.

"Where did they go?" Gash asked.

"Back to the present, most likely…" Vivi breathed. She walked slowly back to her partner and slumped against her, watching her burning book. Vivi started to grow transparent, and was glowing.

"Vivi!" Soren called. She jumped out of the window("What the hell?" Dinemo asked), and quickly started to run over to the disappearing demon.

"I…I'm actually kind of scared to think where I'm going…" Vivi cried, the tears flowing. "If…if I'm going back to the present, or if I'm just stuck in the past…"

"Don't worry, Vivi." Claire comforted her. Soren noted that she was also crying. "If you remain in this time, we'll get Verado and force him to come get you. This…this was just unfair." Soren nodded.

"If anyone in our allience becomes ruler, we'll throw and lock that jerk in prison. Kiya and Neon are both going with him."

"Thanks…" Vivi smiled. "That cheered me up…I guess I'll be seeing you guys, and everyone…"

"Vivi?" Demi's eyes fluttered open, and she took notice of her demon's transparent body. "Vivi! No…You can't be going back!"

"…I guess I am. But if it helps, I took down that Neon character." Vivi smiled. "Please don't cry, Demi. I had to leave you some day. I just hoped it would be the day I would be crowned ruler…Bye, Demi…" She vanished, and the bright star like orbs surrounding her vanished as well.

"...That wasn't a proper farewell..." Demi lowered her head so that her hair was covering her face.

Soren wasn't crying, but her eyes seemed dulled out. She lifted her head to look at the sky and took a deep breath, but did not scream.

"...We'll avenge you."


	27. Old Friend: Ri and Skye

**A/N: Okay, I haven't updated this for two months. -Dodges oncoming objects thrown at me- But if I didn't get my motivational spark today, then this story probably would have been discontinued.**

**My excuses:**

**1. I procrastinated…a lot.**

**2. I'm getting obsessed with some other site.**

**3. I have yet another new story to worry about updating.**

**4. I didn't feel like it.**

**5. I was busy…with the other site.**

**6. Hey, at least you're getting this chapter today! I haven't updated Heroes of Legends in what, four months now? That story's more popular than this! (Almost forty reviews for just four chapters…almost forty. I think it's thirty six?)**

**And why am I updating this now?**

**1. It's five in the morning and I have nothing better to do.**

**2. I feel like it. (For once!)**

**3. I have the rest of this story planned out.**

**4. I don't want to keep you waiting.**

**Yep, you heard me. I have the rest of this story planned out. I know who'll become ruler, and all that stuff.**

…**I completely forgot what happened last chapter. I even forgot some of the demon's names. -.- Sorry 'bout that. So I had to research the review box and re-read my last chapter…Ugh. Dx**

**Also, my new story is up. Feel free to read that if you want, even though it isn't ZB/KnGB related. I'm having a oneshot posted in that category as well soon. You'll be able to bear witness my very first crackfic once I put it up!**

**

* * *

**

"Hnn?" The teenager held his head as he slowly opened his eyes. The last thing he remembered what being attacked by some demon and…now he was lying on the floor. He pushed himself up, and noticed everyone else in the room at the window. "…What's going on?"

"Oh, you're awake!"

"Finally," Dinemo scoffed. "Welcome back to the living, Sleeping Beauty."

"…Thanks," Riley commented as he sat up. "So…what are you guys doing?"

"Um…" Petal started nervously, unsure of what to say.

"Vivi's book was burned." Jhouru simply stated.

"Oh--wait, what?" Riley asked, not really wanting to believe it. Vivi was the second nice demon he met, there was simply no way she would just vanish!

"You heard the twerp, Vivi's gone. Book disintegrated. Demolished. Burned. Destroyed. Corrupted. Decimated--"

"--Okay, I got it." Riley groaned in frustration.

"Hey, who's that?" Suzu pointed out the window. They all huddled close to each other as they saw a portal open up a good twenty feet from Kiyomaro's front door. Two figures fell out of it.

"I think it's another demon and his bookkeeper!" Chikushou exclaimed. But instead of rushing to see the conditions of the newcomers, they simply waited for either Soren or Claire to notice.

---

"What was that?" Claire said, wiping away the remainders of her tears.

"…I think someone else fell victim to Verado's time attack." Soren answered as she walked over to the unconscious forms. There was a boy and a girl. The boy had white hair, and was wearing a simple blue long sleeved shirt with white color sport shorts and green shoes. His unconscious form was sprawled out over a spell book.

"Who is it?" Claire called from behind.

"…We either have ourselves a friend or a new enemy." Another portal appeared above her and two screaming girls fell out of it, landing on Soren.

"Who knew that spell was allowed in this battle?" The blonde one groaned as she picked herself up. She wore a thick blue winter jacket(even though it was perfectly warm outside) and khaki shorts with blue shoes. Two golden locks of hair fell on either side of her face. The other girl next to her was obviously older. She had black hair and chocolate brown eyes. She wore a white long sleeved shirt and blue jeans and black shoes.

"Well, this could prove to be a problem." The older girl said, rubbing her chin absentmindedly. "Skye, how do you suppose we get back?" The blonde named Skye shifted her feet.

"No clue. But I do know that he can move through time at his own will, and he'll come checking on us sooner or later. I know that he has the power to send us back. If we burn his book, we may be stuck in this time period forever!"

"Speaking of time periods, exactly where are we?"

"Hm…" Skye looked around, and noticed the lightning blonde with magnificent golden eyes blinking at her. The blue cloak, the golden stone colored brooch shaped like a bow, blue shoes, it matched perfectly with who she was thinking of! "…We're a thousand years into the past; into the last battle to be king. And that," she pointed to Gash. "…Is my father."

"Wait, what?!" Soren screeched pushing herself up. She looked back and forth between Gash and Skye. Demon to demon. Boy to girl. Apparent father to apparent daughter. She could kind of see the resemblance, but other than having the same hair color, they seemed to share absolutely no genetics at all!

"Who are you?" The older girl asked.

"No conversing with the enemy, Ri." Skye said. "And you," she pointed to Soren and pushed her back. "Have got a LOT of nerve to forget me!"

"Wha?!" Soren was beyond confused. Apparently she knew this girl from before, but from what? How?

"Soren, I can't believe you forgot! Me, Skye! Demon world! Thousand years into the future? Playing on castle grounds even when we weren't allowed to? Sneaking in onto royal meetings?" Soren's eyes widened in shock as she started to remember.

"O-oh…I remember now. I'm sorry, Skye. Can't you forgive your best friend?"

"At least you still remember that part," Skye scoffed, holding out her hand. A smile was glued onto her face anyway. Soren managed to smile despite the situation and shook her friend's hand.

"Wait, huh?" Gash was still confused. "Who is she? I don't have a daughter! I'm not even married!"

"In a thousand years you are, dad!" Skye giggled.

"Eh?! But then…who am I married to?"

"The Queen or Mom is what I usually call her. I've never said her real name out loud."

"…It's Tio." Soren said simply.

"WHAT?! THAT CAN'T BE RIGHT!" Gash screamed, clutching his soft hair with his chubby fingers.

"Well, you'll find out how things came to be." Skye reassured him. "Anyways, I'm on a mission. And that mission is to find Kazoo. Rumor has it that she's actually one of the demons competing in the battle to be ruler!"

"That can't be right!" Soren said. "Kazoo is…well, Kazoo!"

"Kazoo?" Claire asked, walking up to them. "Who's Kazoo?"

"Who don't know?!" Skye nearly shouted.

"Well, we technically wouldn't know either if we hadn't spied on the King's meeting that one time," Soren pointed out.

"Oh, right." Skye cleared her throat. "Kazoo is…a time controlling demon, like Verado. Only she can't send demons and humans back in time, no. Basically, she can control time around her. Whether she's a baby or an adult could change in a matter of seconds. She's pretty powerful as an infant, but as an adult, you wouldn't be able to stand fifty yards away without feeling that power. Who knows what it's like close up?"

"Anyways," Soren continued. "Kazoo's form of attack is light-based. She sends balls of energy. But as her outward appearance grows older, her attack grows smaller. But at the same time, they grow more quicker, more agile, and more stronger. That's how dangerous she is. She's never allowed outside of the palace. Never. She's always confined in that special dungeon that King had made especially for her. But apparently she was let in this battle, and I'm assuming we have to stop her as soon as possible."

"Correct. But then we ran into Verado and before we had a chance to burn his book, he sent us back here."

"Good thing you didn't. If I remember correctly, burning Verado's book won't send us back. He needs to do it himself."

"So, what's up?"

"…One of our good friend's book was recently burned…" Claire said slowly. "And she was scared because she didn't know what would happen to her. Whether she would return to the present or not." Skye contemplated that for a moment.

"…Y'know, I think she's back in our present. I have a very good feeling on that."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. If she isn't, we'll figure something out. I give you my promise she'll return to the present one way or another." Claire smiled at Skye, who smirked back.

---

"So…you're all from the future?" Kiyomaro asked.

"Yep! So, we'll need to take residence in your home for a bit--until we find Verado and force him to return us to our own time. Is that all right with you?"

"As long as you're all sleeping in the guest bedroom."

"Sure! We promise we'll work as fast as we can to find him!"

"I don't," Vincent muttered, Riley elbowed his side. Kiyomaro nodded and led them all upstairs.

Outside, the boy and girl from earlier were both waking up.

"Azure, where are we?" the girl asked, holding up her head.

"No clue, Rika," Azure said honestly. "But we'll have to remember our goal from what that weird girl told us: burn everyone's books in that house, bring back all the humans alive to her, from this time period or not, and then she'll make sure I become the king."

"Are you sure about this? She seemed a bit shady…"

"No, I'm not sure. But I have to try."


End file.
